New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Ayush held a two-day key technical meeting to integrate traditional medicine into global health intervention standards, the Ministry said on Monday.
The Technical Project Meeting on traditional medicine (TM), held from December 20-21 in the national capital, aimed to set an intervention code.
The initiative was fundamentally driven by the landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Donor Agreement signed between the Ministry of Ayush and WHO in May.
“The agreement serves as the cornerstone for developing a dedicated Traditional Medicine module within the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI), the international global standard for classifying healthcare interventions, with India facilitating both the financial and technical frameworks necessary to bring ayurveda, siddha, and unani (ASU) systems into the global healthcare mainstream,” the Ministry said.
“The integration of traditional medicine into ICHI is vital because intervention coding provides a common language for health procedures across different countries and medical systems. By standardising these codes, healthcare providers can better document, report, and analyse the frequency and efficacy of traditional treatments,” it added.
The technical sessions were chaired by Kavita Garg, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, who led the Indian team in the development of National Health Intervention Codes for Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani medicine.
The meeting saw extensive participation from all six WHO regions, including Africa, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Western Pacific, ensuring a comprehensive global perspective on traditional medicine.
Member states, including Bhutan, Brazil, India, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Mauritius, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, the UK, and the US, participated to appraise their country status and harmonise intervention descriptions.
The Ministry noted that the project will be undertaken by the WHO with strict timelines, adopting a scientific approach.
It will not only aid in clinical research and policy support but also pave the way for scaling up traditional medicine within national health information systems globally.
(IANS)
