The World Health Organisation (WHO) has signaled a more active role in promoting and sustaining complementary systems of medicines among its member countries in the coming days. The 56th World Health Assembly of WHO that concluded at Geneva on May 28, 2003 has adopted a Traditional Medicine Resolution aiming at encouraging member states to adopt the WHO traditional medicine strategy which advocates for national policies and regulations, drug-safety monitoring systems, measures to protect and preserve traditional medical knowledge and plant resources and, where appropriate, the intellectual property rights of traditional practioners.

The organization has also recommended the integration of traditional medicine into national health care systems.

Accepting that the traditional, complementary, or alternative medicine has many positive features, and also acknowledging its ability in treating chronic illnesses, the resolution wanted such traditional medicinal knowledge to remain as the property of communities and nations where that knowledge originated.

Noting that lack of evidence for the safety and efficacy of many traditional or alternative medicines and practices could have dangerous effects, the WHO has sought for the setting up or strengthening the existing national drug-safety monitoring systems to monitor herbal medicines and other traditional practices. .

Providing adequate support for research on traditional remedies, measures to protect, preserve and to improve if necessary traditional medical knowledge and medicinal plant resources for sustainable development of traditional medicine were also highlighted. The world body felt that depending on the circumstances in each country; such measures might include, where appropriate, the intellectual property rights of traditional practitioners over traditional medicine formulas and texts, as provided for under national legislation consistent with international obligations, and the engagement of WIPO in development of national sui generis protection systems.

A system for the qualification, accreditation or licensing of traditional medicine practitioners and the inclusion of herbal medicines in national essential drug lists, with a focus on a country's demonstrated public health needs and on verified safety, quality and efficacy of herbal medicines were also recommended.

Another interesting aspect of the resolution is the call for a joint initiative with all WHO collaborating centres to collect evidence-based information on the quality, safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of traditional therapies so as to provide guidance to Member States on the definition of products to be included in national directives and proposals on traditional-medicine policy as used in national health systems.

It has also called for allocation of sufficient resources to traditional medicine at global, regional and country levels of the Organization. The resolution calls for a report to be produced before the Fifty-eighth World Health Assembly, through the Executive Board, on progress made in implementing this resolution.