Summit on traditional medicine to be held alongside G20 health meet in Guj

A global summit on traditional medicine organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) will focus on the role of age-old medical practices in addressing health challenges and driving progress in sustainable development, and will be held alongside the August 17 to 19 health ministerial meeting of G20 in Gandhinagar, officials said on Wednesday.

The first-of-its kind summit, which will take place on August 17-18 in the Gujarat capital, has been co-hosted by the Union Ministry of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy). A government-funded event on medical travel will also be held as part of the three-day meeting of G20 health ministers in Gandhinagar, said the officials.

India currently holds the presidency of the G20, or Group of Twenty, an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies.

"An event planned under the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (based in Gujarat's Jamnagar) will be the first-of-its-kind and the biggest traditional medicine event organised by the WHO," Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ayush Ministry, said at a press conference here. Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Lav Agarwal, who was also present at the press conference, said the biggest government-funded event to promote medical travel will focus on global collaborations and partnerships for building a resilient healthcare system.

The 4th health working group deputies and health working group ministers' meeting will be held in Gandhinagar from August 17 to 19. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the G20 health ministerial meeting on August 18. A joint health-finance ministers' meeting will also be organised on August 19 as part of the event. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will attend the meeting, where finance ministers of G20 member countries will be present virtually, the officials said.

Kotecha said the WHO summit will focus on the role of traditional medicine (TM) in addressing health challenges and driving progress in sustainable development. More than 350 representatives from over 90 countries and 200 delegates from India will attend the summit, where health ministers of 12 countries other than those from the G20 will also be present, he said.

A declaration at the end of the two-day summit will set the direction for the Jamnagar-based Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM). Prime Minister Modi had laid the foundation stone for the centre in presence of WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in April last year.

"The special agenda of the event is to discuss evidence-based traditional medicine practices and how to bring it into the public health delivery system and use TM for universal health coverage," Kotecha said. He said among those attending the event will be scientists, practitioners of traditional medicines, policymakers, health workers and members of civil society, among others. Participants from all six regional centres of the WHO will attend the global programme.

An exhibition showcasing the speciality of regions in traditional medicine will also be organised by the WHO with support of the India government, Kotecha said. A joint meeting of G20 health ministers and high-level delegations of global traditional medicine will be held on August 18 to discuss how to take traditional medicine forward, said the Ayush Ministry Secretary.

"It is a special opportunity for India to provide leadership in traditional medicine," he said. Kotecha said India has achieved many landmarks in the area of traditional medicine and it is working on framing Ayush courses with the WHO's help.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has introduced a separate Ayush e-visa category for those seeking travel for traditional medicine systems and yoga retreat. Union Ministry of Health's Additional Secretary Agarwal said at the joint press conference that the event on promotion of medical travel will focus on encouraging global collaboration and partnership and health workforce mobility. "This will be the biggest government-funded medical travel event held (in India) ever.

As many as 30 G20 ministers will attend the combined sessions where we will showcase their medical power and field visits to Ayush and modern medical hospitals," Agarwal said. More than 70 hospitals will hold an exhibition and over 400 foreign buyers and representatives of 70 countries have registered for the event, he said.

As many as 167 private hospitals from across the globe, 125 medical facilitators, regulators of 23 countries, 64 government hospital representatives, medical associations of 11 countries, investors and insurance companies will take part in the mega event, said the senior bureaucrat. "We have held eight consultative meetings online with invited countries of G20 and 23 international global organizations working in the health sector.

A discussion on the outcome document will be held tomorrow (Thursday)," he said. India has often talked about the need for an interim medical countermeasures coordination platform and presented a concept note to the WHO. India has also given a proposal for global initiative on digital health in its G20 meetings, Agarwal said. "It is important for all stakeholders to come together and develop an ecosystem for digital health so that technology does not only remain in pilot mode but also goes to population," he said.