Overview
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the evolution of the global landscape of traditional
medicine, the diversity of its practices, and the progress made and challenges faced by Member States,
as described in the third WHO global survey on traditional, complementary and integrative medicine and
presented in the WHO traditional, complementary and integrative medicine dashboards. An increasing
number of Member States are seeking technical support for integrating evidence-based, traditional
medicine into health systems and enhancing cross-sectoral coordination and global collaboration.
The World Health Assembly decision [WHA76(20)] on traditional medicine, adopted in 2023, requested
the WHO Director-General to extend the WHO traditional medicine strategy 2014–2023 to 2025. It also
requested the development of a new global traditional medicine strategy for the period 2025–2034, guided
by the current version and in consultation with Member States and relevant stakeholders, with the aim to
submit a draft strategy for consideration by the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly in 2025 through
the Executive Board at its 156th session.
In response to this decision, the WHO Secretariat initiated the process of developing the Global traditional
medicine strategy 2025–2034, with a vision of universal access to safe, effective and people-centred
traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) for the health and well-being of all. The aims
of the strategy are to address existing challenges across multiple domains, integrate safe and effective
TCIM as appropriate into health systems and advance the contribution of TCIM to the highest attainable
standard of health.