WHO Seeks To Increase Reach Of Traditional Medicine

Representatives from more than 70 countries met in China on Friday for a two-day World Health Organization (WHO) event to exchange ideas on increasing the availability of traditional medicine.

The event, which is structured around seminars on regulatory standards and folk medicine in various cultures from Japan to South Africa, is expected to conclude with member countries consenting to expand traditional medicine within their health care systems. 

Traditional medicine, which can range from acupuncture to leech treatments, is used throughout China and other developing countries, even as access to Western-style health care is growing.

WHO officials attending the event said combining traditional medicine with Western medicine could make each method more effective.

"Integration of traditional medicine into national health systems will not only bring benefits to patients, but will also ensure safety and proper use," said assistant WHO director-general Carissa Etienne during a news conference.

Speakers at the Beijing event also called for more research on traditional medicines, something WHO director-general Margaret Chan described as "a valuable source of leads for therapeutic advances and the discovery of new classes of drugs."

Indeed, herbal and other treatments have often been found effective in studies.  For instance, Artemisinin, a plant ingredient used as a malaria treatment for centuries in southern China, became regarded as the best treatment for the disease after studies confirmed its ability to rapidly clear parasites.

In parts of India, leech therapy is used to treat skin conditions and pain.  Hospitals in China often offer both Western treatment and traditional treatments like herbal antidotes and acupuncture.

The WHO said that more than 70 percent of people in Canada and Germany have tried folk treatments as supplements or alternatives to modern health care.

And in Europe, revenue from traditional medicine exceeded 3 billion euros from 2003 to 2004, according to WHO traditional medicine coordinator Zhang Xiaorui.  In China, the number was $8 billion, she said.

"There are many examples where fast and effective traditional medicines have existed," Hans Hogerzeil, the WHO’s director of medicines policy and standards, told Reuters.

"They have then afterwards become more or less Western medicines because the active ingredient has been identified and is now produced in a standardized way."
 
—

On the Net:

• World Health Organization