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Shyama Kuruvilla, Director a.i.,\u00a0WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine speaking during the World Health Summit event<\/p>\n
Traditional medicine was a key topic at the World Health Summit for the first time in 2025, with two dedicated sessions included in this prestigious annual event in Berlin, Germany. The first, a panel event on Sunday 12 October, titled \u201cOperationalizing the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy: From Global Vision to National Action<\/a>\u201d, explored how the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025\u20132034 can be translated from vision into practice. The second session was a workshop on \u201cIntegrative Medicine in Global Health: Pathways for Implementation<\/a>\u201d, held on Monday 13 October. Both events raised the profile of traditional medicine within the global health dialogue, with participants emphasizing the vital contribution of inclusive and holistic care in re-imagining people-centred health systems.<\/p>\n Global collaborations to integrate traditional medicine<\/p>\n On 12 October, Abderrazak\u00a0Bouzouita, Director General of Tunisia\u2019s Ministry of Health, opened the session saying, \u201cThe world is calling for more inclusive, preventive and sustainable models of health care. Traditional medicine provides that missing dimension. It brings people, culture and nature back into the heart of the healing process\u201d. In describing Tunisia\u2019s recent advances, including the country\u2019s first national centre for traditional medicine, as well as its preparations for an Africa-China traditional medicine forum in November, he noted that these steps will advance Tunisia from being a user of traditional medicine to a global connector.<\/p>\n Dr Shyama\u00a0Kuruvilla, Director a.i. of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre, underlined that collaboration is key. She described the upcoming WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine<\/a>, to be held on 17\u221219 December in New Delhi, India, as a platform where everyone is invited to learn about national and global efforts to integrate traditional medicine into our health-care systems, emphasizing, \u201cWe all have a role to play\u201d.<\/p>\n Lessons from country experiences<\/p>\n Dr Anja Thronicke, Senior Medical Affairs Manager (Oncology) at the Research Institute Havelh\u00f6he, Germany, explained that integrative medicine has been used in cancer treatments there for more than 30 years. Dr Havelh\u00f6he\u2019s oncology network is engaged in documenting patient journeys through personalized approaches and has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers. Dr Thronicke said the success of integrative therapies relies on patient-centred care, evidence-based research and collaboration.<\/p>\n