| Thursday, 04 December 2025 MEDIA ADVISORY Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine The second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine, themed “Restoring balance: The science and practice of health and well-being”, will take place from 17 to 19 December 2025 at the Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre, New Delhi, India, jointly organized with the Government of India. This hybrid event will convene policymakers, scientists, practitioners, and Indigenous leaders from over 100 countries to chart a global roadmap for integrating safe, evidence-based traditional medicine (TM) into health systems. More than 800 participants are expected in person, with up to 5,000 joining online. A global virtual media briefing will be held on Tuesday, 9 December, highlighting progress since the first WHO Traditional Medicine Summit in 2023 and how this year’s Summit will advance the global TM agenda. Summit Highlights The Summit will showcase scientific breakthroughs, policy innovations and new tools to advance the Global traditional medicine strategy 2025–2034, adopted at the 78th World Health Assembly in May 2025. The full agenda is available here. Key highlights include: - Launch of the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library – world’s largest digital repository, featuring 1.6 million scientific records to strengthen evidence and knowledge sharing on TM
- Release of the Global Research Priorities Roadmap to guide research and close evidence gaps in TM
- Announcement of 21 breakthrough Health Heritage Innovations (H2I) in TM selected from 1,100 submissions
- Commitments and pledges from governments and other partners
- Call for a Global Consortium on Health Heritage Innovation, to bridge gaps in research and development capacities, regulatory standards and mechanisms
Media access and participation Why now? - Traditional medicine - including complementary, integrative, Indigenous and ancestral practices - is a global reality. Billions of people rely on TM, often as the first, closest, or only form of care. WHO data shows 170 of 194 countries report its use; in Germany and Ghana, usage reaches 70%, and in China and India, over 90%.
- The demand for TM products and services is soaring. In many countries around the world, the practice of integrative medicine that combines traditional and complementary medicine and biomedicine is gaining popularity, while the wellness economy linked to TM was valued at US$ 5.6 trillion in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 8.5 trillion by 2027.
- For the 4.6 billion people still lacking access to essential health services, safe and effective TM is vital for equity and universal health coverage. TM offers significant value at a time when chronic noncommunicable diseases have overtaken infectious diseases as the leading cause of death, and health systems face overlapping crises—from rising chronic disease and mental health challenges to deepening inequities and disruptions caused by drastic global health funding cuts.
- Developing strong evidence for TM is critical yet challenging. Research on TM requires new research models and methodologies, and funding is scarce —less than 1% of global health research funding goes to TM, even as its use grows worldwide. WHO works to close this gap by setting global standards, generating rigorous evidence on safety and efficacy, and guiding countries on regulation and evidence-based integration.
- New scientific discoveries, innovation and technology are reshaping how TM is researched, validated, regulated, and safely integrated into health care. AI, digital platforms, genomics, metabolomics, and others can help generate explicit, systematic, and replicable evidence using scientifically robust yet fit-for-purpose approaches tailored to diverse traditions. There is a growing innovation ecosystem that strengthens TM research, regulation and investment.
New initiatives and collaborations to be launched at the Summit - WHO Global TM Library: an innovative, first-of-its-kind digital platform with over 1.6 million scientific records on traditional medicine; advanced features include Evidence Gap Maps, Database Catalogues, and TMGL GPT, an AI model tailored to TM.
- Global Traditional Medicine Research Priorities Roadmap, addressing the fragmented research and lack of global guidance, it will guide evidence generation and integration of TM into health systems.
- Health & Heritages Innovation (H2I) Challenge: 21 breakthrough innovations and TM solutions (selected from over 1,000 global submissions) will be announced.
- Traditional Medicine Data Network (TMDN), a global data network that integrates and analyzes data on traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM). Supported by a network of global experts and reference centers, TMDN guarantees technical rigor, data quality, and continuous innovation.
- The WHO global reference list of indicators for traditional, complementary and integrative medicine for health systems performance presents, for the first time, a harmonized set of 31 core and 15 supplementary indicators to support countries in systematically assessing and strengthening the integration of TCIM within their national health systems.
- TM Informed Health Choices: evaluates the safety and efficacy of TCIM practices within their cultural context. The project aims to promote informed decision-making and empower people to safely integrate TCIM into their healthcare.
- Draft WHO Framework on Indigenous Knowledge, Biodiversity and Health, co-developed with Indigenous peoples via dialogues to strengthen Indigenous-led engagement in global health and biodiversity governance, anchored in trust, partnership and co-creation.
- Traditional medicine investment landscape
- Inaugural meeting of the first Strategic Technical Advisory Group on traditional medicine (STAG TM), composed of experts from around the globe, will be held on the Summit’s sidelines on 17 December. STAG TM will help strengthen WHO’s scientific leadership by providing technical, scientific and strategic advice on TCIM, including on shaping research agenda and priorities, setting global standards, and guiding evidence-based integration into health systems.
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