The WHO’s first global summit on traditional medicine kicked off last week in India, and while the health agency seeks to “collect evidence and data … for the safe use of such treatments”, critics say the industry encourages trade in endangered animals.
The talks – uniting policymakers and academics – aim to “mobilise political commitment and evidence-based action” to “inform policies, standards and regulations for the safe, cost-effective and equitable use of traditional medicine”, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He added that medicine could play an important and catalytic role in achieving the goal of universal health coverage and meeting global health-related targets that were off track even before the disruption caused by the pandemic.
“Bringing traditional medicine into the mainstream of healthcare, appropriately, effectively and above all, safely, based on the latest scientific evidence, can help bridge access gaps for millions worldwide. It would be an important step toward people centres and holistic approaches to health and well-being,” he said.
The event took place alongside a meeting of G20 Health Ministers and will become a regular event, reports EWN.
Criticism
Although traditional medicines are widely used in some parts of the world, they have also come under fire from various quarters.
Many traditional treatments have no proven scientific value, and conservationists say the industry is driving a rampant trade in endangered animals – including tigers, rhinos and pangolins – threatening the existence of entire species.
Of the WHO’s 194 member states, 170 acknowledged their use of traditional and complementary medicine since 2018, but only 124 reported having laws or regulations for the use of herbal medicines – while only half had a national policy on such methods and medicines.
About 40% of approved pharmaceutical products currently used are derived from a “natural product basis”, said the WHO, citing landmark drugs like aspirin, drawing on formulations using willow tree bark.
Meanwhile, a traditional South African medicine mixture, used for HIV and repurposed for Covid-19, will have its moment in the spotlight at the event, reports TimesLIVE.
African traditional medicine expert and director of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of the Free State (UFS), Professor Motlalepula Matsabisa, who also co-chairs the WHO Global Traditional Medicines Centre, said the South African team would showcase the science behind their products.
They would be exhibiting Phela, a mixture prepared from four African medicinal plants, and which was developed through the UFS.
Matsabisa’s team had tested the pre-clinical safety and efficacy of Phela and found that it had potent effects against SARs-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
He said the team would also exhibit indigenous health tea products.
“The African Medicines Innovation and Technology Development Platform (AMITD) and pharmacology (department) scientifically endorsed the teas. We will show the summit their medical benefits,” he said.
EWN article – WHO holds first traditional medicine summit (Open access)
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UFS traditional medicine expert tests plant-based meds on TB-from-COVID cases
Traditional Ayurveda medicines treat type 2 diabetes – UK meta-analysis
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Regulating indigenous medicine may be constitutionally difficult