The World Health Organization (WHO) officially launched the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library during the 2nd WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit, held from 17 to 19 December 2025 in New Delhi, India.
The Library, developed by the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in coordination with the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre, constitutes a new global information resource aimed at strengthening traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) within health systems. Its approach brings together traditional knowledge, scientific evidence and digital transformation to support more equitable, culturally appropriate public policies and to strengthen health systems.
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This initiative represents a strategic step forward in articulating traditional knowledge, scientific evidence, and digital transformation to support more equitable and culturally appropriate public policies aimed at strengthening health systems. It is grounded in the Gujarat Declaration (2023) and aligned with WHO’s Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034.
Worldwide, billions of people rely on traditional, Indigenous, complementary, and integrative practices for health promotion, disease prevention, and maternal, neonatal, mental, and community care. In many contexts, these practices constitute the primary pathway to health care, particularly for Indigenous Peoples, rural communities, and populations in vulnerable situations.
Despite their relevance, policymakers, health professionals and researchers still face significant challenges in accessing, organizing and assessing information and evidence related to TCIM in a safe, effective, cost-effective and culturally appropriate manner. The WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library addresses this challenge by offering a reliable, structured and inclusive digital platform that brings together ancestral knowledge and contemporary science in support of public health.
According to João Paulo Souza, Director of BIREME and Editor-in-Chief of the Library, the initiative is consolidating itself as a global public good, designed to support national policies, regulation, research and clinical practice, with a focus on equity, diversity of health care systems and respect for the collective intellectual property of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. “Achieving the highest attainable standard of health and wellbeing for all requires embracing the complexity of health as a multidimensional state rooted in harmony between the self, the community and the environment,” stated João Paulo during the launch.
