S Ahmad
“The 2nd WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine is not ceremonial; it signals India’s growing role in shaping the future architecture of global health.”
At a time when global health systems are under unprecedented strain, the search for sustainable, inclusive, and people-centred healthcare models has become urgent. Rising chronic diseases, ageing populations, mental health challenges, and unequal access to medical services have exposed the limits of an exclusively curative, hospital-driven approach.
Across the world, policymakers and public-health experts are increasingly acknowledging that health cannot be reduced to treatment alone. Prevention, lifestyle, environment, and cultural context matter. It is in this moment of rethinking that traditional medicine is re-emerging—not as an alternative curiosity, but as a serious and necessary pillar of healthcare systems.
India stands at the centre of this global shift. With civilisational healing traditions that span thousands of years and a rapidly modernising regulatory framework, the country finds itself at a defining crossroads.
The hosting of the 2nd WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine in New Delhi from December 17 to 19, 2025, is therefore far more than a diplomatic or ceremonial event. It reflects India’s growing influence in shaping the future architecture of global health, at a time when the world is searching for models that are affordable, preventive, and culturally rooted.
Traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine is no longer confined to history or folklore. According to the World Health Organization, traditional medicine is used in 170 of its 194 Member States.
This widespread adoption underscores a simple but powerful reality: millions of people across continents rely on traditional systems for primary care, chronic disease management, and overall well-being. In countries such as India, China, Japan, and Korea, traditional medicine has never disappeared from daily life. What has changed in recent years is the global insistence that these systems be supported by scientific evidence, robust regulation, quality assurance, and safe integration with modern healthcare.
India’s experience is particularly instructive in this regard. Its traditional medicine systems—Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Sowa-Rigpa, Yoga, Naturopathy, and Homoeopathy—are not informal or loosely organised practices. They are institutionally recognised and governed under the Ministry of AYUSH. Over the years, India has built one of the world’s most structured and expansive traditional-medicine ecosystems.
Today, the country has more than 3,800 AYUSH hospitals, nearly 37,000 dispensaries, and over 7.5 lakh registered practitioners. Hundreds of undergraduate and postgraduate institutions train professionals in these systems. This scale is crucial. It allows traditional medicine to function not as anecdotal care for a few, but as a system capable of addressing public-health needs at a population level.
Equally significant has been the gradual integration of AYUSH services into India’s mainstream public-health infrastructure. Through the National AYUSH Mission, AYUSH units have been co-located in Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres, and District Hospitals.
This has allowed patients to access traditional and allopathic care under one roof. The importance of this shift cannot be overstated. It marks a move away from parallel systems toward integrative healthcare, where prevention, wellness, and long-term disease management complement acute and emergency care.
This integration is especially relevant in the context of India’s changing disease burden. Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disorders, and mental health conditions are rising sharply.
These illnesses require sustained lifestyle interventions, long-term management, and patient engagement—areas where traditional medicine systems place strong emphasis. By focusing on diet, daily routines, mental balance, and preventive care, AYUSH systems offer tools that can reduce pressure on overstretched hospitals while improving quality of life.
However, credibility remains the central challenge for traditional medicine globally. Recognition without evidence cannot sustain public trust. India has acknowledged this reality and invested significantly in research, regulation, and quality control. Dedicated research councils, pharmacovigilance networks, drug-testing laboratories, and standard-setting institutions now form the backbone of the AYUSH ecosystem.
Programmes such as Ayurgyan and Ayurswasthya Yojana aim to strengthen clinical research, improve professional competence, and support public-health interventions grounded in traditional medicine.
One of the most critical initiatives in this space is the AYUSH Oushadhi Gunvatta evum Uttapadan Samvardhan Yojana (AOGUSY). This scheme addresses a long-standing concern surrounding traditional medicines: quality, safety, and standardisation.
By supporting good manufacturing practices, testing infrastructure, and regulatory compliance, AOGUSY seeks to ensure that traditional medicines meet modern safety expectations without losing their core principles.
Another often overlooked but essential dimension of traditional medicine is the conservation of medicinal plants. Healing systems cannot survive if their natural resources are depleted. India’s policy framework increasingly links healthcare with biodiversity protection, sustainable cultivation, and rural livelihoods.
Medicinal plant boards and cultivation schemes aim to support farmers while reducing pressure on wild plant populations. This alignment with the One Health approach—connecting human health, environmental sustainability, and economic resilience—places traditional medicine firmly within the global sustainability agenda.
It is against this comprehensive policy and institutional backdrop that the 2nd WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine assumes strategic importance. The summit’s theme, “Restoring Balance for People and Planet: The Science and Practice of Well-Being,” reflects a growing global understanding that health is inseparable from ecological balance, social equity, and preventive care. With participation from over 100 countries, the summit provides a rare platform to move traditional medicine from the margins of global health discourse to its policy core.
India’s leadership role at the summit is particularly noteworthy. Very few countries possess a living traditional knowledge base alongside modern regulatory institutions, digital infrastructure, and large-scale service delivery capacity. India’s alignment with the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034—which prioritises evidence generation, regulatory robustness, health-system integration, and cross-sectoral value—demonstrates coherence rather than symbolic engagement.
The launch of the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library during the summit further reinforces this shift. With more than 1.5 million records, the library is set to become the world’s most comprehensive digital repository of traditional medicine knowledge, research, and policy. Its launch in India signals global confidence in the country’s ability to document, digitise, and protect traditional knowledge. In an age where misinformation can rapidly erode trust, such transparent and accessible knowledge platforms are essential for credible research and informed policymaking.
This moment did not arrive overnight. India’s hosting of the first WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine in Gujarat in 2023 laid the foundation. The Gujarat Declaration reflected international consensus on evidence-based integration, ethical sourcing, and regulatory clarity. The New Delhi summit builds on that foundation, shifting the focus from declarations to implementation.
Looking ahead, the central challenge is no longer advocacy but execution. Traditional medicine must continue to earn legitimacy through rigorous science, transparent regulation, and measurable public-health outcomes. India’s experience shows that this balance is achievable when political commitment, institutional capacity, and cultural legitimacy align.
As India advances toward its Viksit Bharat@2047 vision, traditional medicine represents more than cultural heritage. It is strategic health capital. In a world searching for humane, preventive, and sustainable healthcare models, India’s traditional medicine systems offer lessons that extend far beyond national borders. By bridging ancient wisdom with modern science, India is helping restore balance—not only for its own people, but for global health itself.
The article is based on the inputs and background information provided by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Author is Writer, Policy Commentator. He can be mailed at kcprmijk@gmail.com
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