Geneva: World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted on Monday Global Center for Traditional Medicine Founded in India And the first Earth Summit Speaking at a conference on traditional medicine hosted by the country, he stressed that the year 2023 would be a productive year for the UN health agency in its work to support access to medicines and other health products.

Presenting his report at the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Ghebreyesus said, “We also established the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India, and hosted the first Global Summit on Traditional Medicine.”

In March 2022, the Indian government and the UN health agency signed an agreement to establish the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine.

This global knowledge hub for traditional medicine, backed by a $250 million investment from India, aims to harness the potential of traditional medicine from around the world through modern science and technology to improve the health of people and the planet, the UN health agency said in a press release at the time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi The Ministry of AYUSH and the World Health Organisation have signed an agreement to establish the world’s first Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM). JamnagarThis is a commendable initiative in Gujarat.

He laid the foundation stone of WHO-GCTM in Jamnagar in April 2022.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi had said that the WHO-GCTM recognises India’s contribution and potential in this field. “India’s traditional system of medicine is not limited to just treatment. It is a holistic science of life. India takes this partnership as a great responsibility to serve the entire humanity.”

The WHO held the Traditional Medicine Global Summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in August last year. The summit was co-hosted by India, which will chair the G20 in 2023. It was held alongside the G20 Health Ministerial Meeting.

The summit discussed the role of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine in addressing health challenges and advancing global health and sustainable development.

Ghebreyesus was in Gujarat to attend the Global Summit on Traditional Medicine, where he was warmly welcomed.

He praised India for its “rich history” of traditional medicine. Ayurveda And discussing yoga, Ghebreyesus stressed the need to integrate this ancient medicinal knowledge into the national health systems of countries.

“India has a rich history of traditional medicine through Ayurveda, including yoga, which has been shown to be effective in alleviating pain. The Gujarat Declaration, which is the main outcome of this summit, will focus on the integration of traditional medicines into national health systems, and help unleash the power of traditional medicine through science,” WHO chief Said.

Addressing the World Health Assembly on Monday, Ghebreyesus said 2023 is a year of many challenges, but also of many achievements. He said 2023 will be a productive year in WHO’s work to support access to medicines and other health products.

“We pre-qualified 120 medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and other products for HIV, malaria, multidrug-resistant TB, Ebola, polio and COVID-19 last year, as well as long-acting insulin analogues for the first time,” he said.

He said the biggest disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was to routine immunization programmes in many countries, resulting in decreased vaccination coverage and increased outbreaks of measles, diphtheria, polio, yellow fever, etc.

“In April last year, we launched ‘The Big Catch Up’ programme, together with UNICEF and Gavi, aimed at helping countries contain outbreaks and restore vaccination programmes to at least pre-pandemic levels,” he said.

In May last year, the WHO chief declared both COVID-19 and Mpox as global health emergencies. “We call on all countries to maintain and strengthen the capacities built to monitor, detect and respond during pandemics. These investments must not be wasted.”