Traditional medicine strategy calls for reliable knowledge

The region’s member states received certification of interrupted indigenous wild poliovirus transmission.

India’s last wild case was in 2011, and regional certification followed sustained surveillance.

Vaccination campaigns and case monitoring supported the certification decision.

This milestone did not mean that all forms of polio risk worldwide had disappeared.

The World Health Assembly approved the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014–2023 on this date, acknowledging that practices differ across regions.

The Assembly-backed strategy called for quality assurance, safety, proper use and regulation rather than blanket endorsement of treatments.

Assessing whether traditional and complementary practices work was explicitly among the strategy’s stated aims.

WHO announced a Public Health Emergency of International Concern after emergency committee advice.

The declaration called for international assistance to affected West African countries.

The response depended on local caregivers, safe care and contact tracing amid serious risks.