Request for proposals (RFPs) for evidence review and content development for the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library, second WHO Global Summit, Innovation Expo, and related initiatives

WHO hosted its first Traditional Medicine Global Summit on August 17 –18, 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India alongside the G20 health ministerial meeting and adopted the Gujarat Declaration.  This Declaration sets out an action agenda for the implementation of evidence-based TCIM interventions and approaches in support of the goal of universal health coverage and health-related Sustainable Development Goals.

The WHO Traditional Medicine (TM) strategy (2014-2025) emphasizes information sharing in various contexts including for policy and regulatory formulation, and further understanding of TM among bio medicine health care practitioners and TM practitioners.1,2

To respond to these requests, the development of evidence-synthesized resources on TM is critical for various activities. The second WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit 2025 is the opportunity for all WHO regions to showcase the process and progress of evidence review on TM through technical sessions and its Innovation Expo. To prepare the organization of the summit, those evidence synthesis should be reflected to the summit documentation, participant feedback, and reports. 

The country profiles are another resource to showcase the country’s history, uniqueness, achievements, and diversity of traditional medicine traditions in the country, support the facilitation of TM use, safeguard knowledge for future generations, and prevent its loss due to factors like modernization, globalization, or cultural shifts.  Each country’s profile should be approved by each country's government and use plain language for the general public to easily understand and learn the traditional medicine in each country. The source of information to produce the country profiles will be scientific journals, government documents including UN agencies’ one, existing country profiles, books and other verifiable sources. The country profiles will be disseminated through multiple channels including publications or online resources. 

The resources for the country profiles will also be the basis of the visually engaging “coffee table book.”

These will be the key content not only in the Innovation Expo section and the technical sessions at the second WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit but also in the upcoming WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library (TMGL), the digital platform for TM resources around the world.