Accra:Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), emphasized the importance of combining traditional medicine with scientific research to ensure its safety and effectiveness.
According to Ghana Web, Dr. Ghebreyesus highlighted that traditional medicine plays a critical role in healthcare for billions globally, serving as both a trusted treatment and a part of cultural heritage.
In a message shared on his X page, Dr. Ghebreyesus stated that promoting traditional medicine should involve respecting cultural practices while ensuring treatments adhere to established safety and effectiveness standards. He stressed the need for traditional medicine and modern science to be complementary, advocating for research, innovation, regulation, and quality assurance to bridge the two.
He called for more research to determine which traditional treatments are effective, identifying the beneficiaries and conditions under which they work. Additionally, Dr. Ghebreyesus underscored the necessity of strong standards to protect the public from unsafe products and misleading claims.
Protecting traditional knowledge, especially contributions from indigenous peoples and local communities, was also deemed crucial. Dr. Ghebreyesus emphasized that these communities should benefit fairly from innovations based on their knowledge.
He concluded that when supported by evidence and integrated into health systems, traditional medicine can enhance primary health care and support progress toward universal health coverage. The WHO remains committed to assisting member states through its Global Centre for Traditional Medicine and partnerships with researchers, practitioners, and communities worldwide.