The two day (17-18 August 2023 ) first World Health Organisation (WHO) Traditional Medicine Global Summit 2023 has released an outcome document in the form of ‘Gujarat Declaration’. The first WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit 2023 was organised by WHO and it was co-hosted by the Union Ministry of Ayush at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Theme of the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit 2023
The theme of the WHO traditional Medicine was ‘Towards Health and Well beings of All’ .
Main highlights of the Gujarat Declaration
- The WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who has been nicknamed ‘Tulsi Bhai’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “Gujarat Declaration” will serve as a catalyst to harness the potential of traditional medicine through the lens of science and will focus on the integration of traditional medicines in national health systems and help unlock the power of traditional medicine.”
- The Gujarat declaration reaffirmed global commitments towards indigenous knowledge, biodiversity and traditional, complementary and integrative medicine.
- WHO underlined that the application of rigorous scientific methods is needed to better understand, assess and, where appropriate, apply more holistic, context-specific, complex and personalised approaches for health and well-being for all.
- The Gujarat declaration emphasises scaling up efforts to further implement evidence-based TCIM (Traditional complementary integrative medicine) interventions and approaches in support of the goal of universal health coverage (UHC) and all health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
World’s first WHO Global Center for Traditional Medicine
World's first and only WHO's Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) is being set up in Jamnagar, Gujarat . It is being set up jointly by the government of India and the WHO. The WHO's Global Centre for Traditional Medicine is under the Union Ministry of Ayush.
Union Minister for Ayush : Sarbanand Sonowal
Headquarters of WHO : Geneva, Switzerland