The Bulletin of the World Health Organization has issued a call for high quality papers on traditional medicine for an upcoming special issue to be launched with the next WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit, 2-4 December 2025. The special issue will explore how the nexus of traditional medicine and modern science can restore balance and catalyze essential breakthroughs for the health and well-being of people and planet. Policy, practice, and research papers may be submitted for consideration until March 1, 2025. Full guidelines for submission are available on the WHO website.
“Today we face pervasive disequilibrium – with socioeconomic disparities, political instability, gender inequalities, violence and rapid technological change,” writes Shyama Kuruvilla, director ad interim of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre, together with colleagues in a Bulletin editorial announcing the special issue. “By seeking to restore balance for individuals, societies and environments, traditional medicine aligns with frameworks around equity, One Health, planetary health and the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs).”
Topics of interest for the Bulletinseries include: research and evidence on traditional medicine; multidisciplinary research methods and evidence-informed decision-making; UHC and health systems, including governance, financing, workforce, services, products, quality and regulation, and information systems; biodiversity and sustainability and the use of natural resources; Indigenous Peoples’ rights and respectful knowledge exchange; intellectual property rights and equitable benefit-sharing; digital health and technological advances; and the contribution of traditional medicine to global health priorities including during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and towards health, equity and the SDGs.
“The need for a person-centered, holistic and equitable approach to health and well-being is timely,” write Kuruvilla and colleagues. “Blending traditional knowledge with modern science offers an opportunity to forge a more healthful, equitable and sustainable future.”
Traditional Medicine is a topic of growing interest in global health research and policy. In addition to this special issue – the first Bulletin series dedicated to Traditional Medicine since 1977 – a new WHO traditional medicine global strategy is currently under development for the 2024-2025 period in consultation with member-states. The WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre will support the development and dissemination of the WHO Bulletin series in coordination with the 2025 WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit.