The Union Cabinet approved the building of a WHO (World Health Organization) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) in Jamnagar, Gujarat, on Wednesday, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Indian government has inked an agreement with the world body in this regard.
The WHO GCTM will be the first and only global outpost center (office) for traditional medicines and will be built under the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, and Homoeopathy).
AYUSH will coordinate with WHO
“The move will help to position AYUSH systems around the world, provide leadership on global health issues relating to traditional medicine, and ensure quality, safety, efficacy, accessibility, and rational use of traditional medicine while developing specific capacity building and training programs in areas relevant to the objectives and conducting training programs on campus, residential, or web-based, and through partnerships with the WHO Academy and other strata.”
The move will aid in the development of norms, standards, and guidelines in important technical areas, as well as tools and processes for data collection, analytics, and effect assessment.
Other Memorandums of Understanding
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft e.V. (DFG), Germany; an MoU signed by the ICMR with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute of Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, United States; and the Council’s MoU with Oxford University, United Kingdom were among the other decisions reviewed by the Cabinet.
The MoU with Oxford University aims to build capacity for Indian scientists and researchers, collect data that meets international standards and regulatory requirements, develop India into a regional hub for capacity development using its own funds while adhering to equity and sovereignty principles, and build partnerships in and beyond data and skill-sharing with equity and transparency.