Who am I?
During my junior medical training at a government-owned hospital in East Java from 2009 to 2011, I enjoyed writing about health online. I'm also interested in traditional medicine, as my grandparents were traditional healers on the island of Sumatra under the name "Timbang Rasa." I now work at a clinic in Jakarta.
Traditional medicine refers to codified or non-codified systems for health care and well-being, comprising practices, skills, knowledge and philosophies originating in different historical and cultural contexts, which are distinct from and pre-date biomedicine, evolving with science for current use from an experience-based origin. Traditional medicine emphasizes nature-based remedies and holistic, personalized approaches to restore balance of mind, body and environment.
WHO definitions of traditional, complementary and herbal medicines.
Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) is used in 170 countries, according to a 2019 WHO report.
Further
insight comes from WHO’s third global survey on TCIM. Sixty-seven per
cent of respondents reported 40-99% of their populations using TCIM.
These figures highlight the widespread and variable use of TCIM globally, emphasizing the need for clear definitions and consistent data collection to guide effective policy, regulation, and integration within health systems.
For centuries, traditional, indigenous and ancestral knowledge has been an integral resource for health in households and communities, and it continues to form a significant part of health care in many regions. 170 of WHO’s 194 Member States have reported on the use of herbal medicines, acupuncture, yoga, indigenous therapies and other systems of traditional medicine. Many countries recognize traditional medicine as a valuable source of health care and have taken steps to integrate practices, products, and practitioners into their national systems.
Today, traditional medicine has become a global phenomenon; the demand is growing, with patients seeking greater agency and ownership of their health and well-being and seeking more holistic and personalized health care. For millions, especially those living in remote and rural areas, it continues to be the first choice for health and well-being, offering care that is culturally acceptable, available, and affordable.
Yet less than 1% of global health research funding is currently dedicated to traditional medicine. Lack of investment in research undermines efforts to build a robust evidence base.
WHO’s work on traditional medicine is a response to requests from countries for evidence and data to inform policies and practice, global standards, and regulations to ensure safety, quality, and equitable access.
The 2018 Declaration of Astana on primary health care acknowledges the need to include traditional medicine knowledge and technologies in the delivery of primary health care – a cornerstone of health systems – in pursuit of health for all.
In health-care systems, safety outcomes depend on a combination of factors such as practitioner competence, product quality, effective communication, and strong regulatory support. Adverse events, medication errors, or compromised product quality can arise in any field of health care, not because the systems themselves are unsafe, but because safety relies on how care is delivered.
Both traditional medicine and biomedicine have established approaches to promoting safety. When supported by appropriate training, quality assurance, and clear practice frameworks, traditional medicine is usually a safe and trusted source of healing.
As in biomedicine, strengthening patient safety in traditional medicine also involves augmenting the broader health-care environment around it. This may include improving documentation, supporting research, ensuring consistent quality standards, and building regulatory systems that protect both practitioners and patients. By focusing on these enabling factors, traditional medicine can continue to contribute safely and effectively to public health.
Source: WHO
Shyama Kuruvilla, Director a.i., WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine speaking during the World Health Summit event
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 “Operationalizing the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy: From Global Vision to National Action”, explored how the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 can be translated from vision into practice. The second session was a workshop on “Integrative Medicine in Global Health: Pathways for Implementation”, 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.
On 12 October, Abderrazak Bouzouita, Director General of Tunisia’s Ministry of Health, opened the session saying, “The 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”. In describing Tunisia’s recent advances, including the country’s 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.
Dr Shyama Kuruvilla, 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, to be held on 17−19 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, “We all have a role to play”.
Dr Anja Thronicke, Senior Medical Affairs Manager (Oncology) at the Research Institute Havelhöhe, Germany, explained that integrative medicine has been used in cancer treatments there for more than 30 years. Dr Havelhöhe’s 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.
Professor Motlalepula Matsabisa, Director of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (Health) Lead Programme at the University of the Free State, South Africa, and Co-Chair of the WHO Summit Steering Committee, shared how his department bridges traditional and biomedical sciences. “Communities are our living laboratories”, he said. “We cannot exist without the communities that supply and share their knowledge”.
Dr Nessma El-Nabawy, General Manager of Egypt’s General Administration for Registration of Herbal Products, noted via pre-recorded video that traditional medicine has been regulated in Egypt since 1955, using the same measures as conventional medicine. “However, greater efforts are needed for scientific evidence through clinical trials and standardization to support sustainable integration into the national health system”, she said.
Dr Kuruvilla reminded participants that traditional medicine is “Really something that’s a global good for each and every one of us … not something in the past”. She highlighted that emerging findings from a WHO research priority-setting exercise show that only 1% of global health research funding is currently going to traditional medicine, despite high demand for evidence and prioritization by Member States. “This is a gap that needs to be bridged,” she said.
In conclusion, Dr Nicole Redvers, Director of Indigenous Planetary Health at Western University, Canada, added her perspective via pre-recorded video: “Traditional Indigenous medicine is evidence-informed through thousands of years of knowledge-gathering and experience, and is tied to spiritual and cultural processes that really teach us about ourselves and our relationship to everything around us”.
Reflecting on the discussion, panel moderator Dr Hiba Boujnah, Head of International Cooperation & Partnerships, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, noted:
“Traditional medicine is about being in harmony with everything that’s around us”. She concluded: “We must promote traditional health to the place that it had before, and to really remove this veil of shame or of doubt around traditional medicine”.
During the second event on traditional medicine on 13 October, Dr Kuruvilla and Professor Matsabisa joined Dr Amie Steel, Co-Director of Research Consortium in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Australia, and Dr Sanghamitra Pati, Additional Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research, to identify key approaches, collaborative models and practical solutions for integrating traditional medicine across diverse global health systems.
Dr Kuruvilla explained the four strategic objectives of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 and noted that WHO has been “looking at a conceptual framework of how integration in systems could happen” and outlined the next steps, which include the upcoming Summit in New Delhi.
The adoption of the Strategy reflects a growing consensus that traditional, complementary and integrative medicine, when validated and regulated, can advance equity, inclusion and resilience in health care. As countries move from strategy to action, the focus will be on building trust, strengthening research and creating space for traditional medicine within national health plans.
Source: https://www.who.int/news/item/16-10-2025-spotlight-on-traditional-medicine-at-world-health-summit-whs-2025
