African medicine knowledge rights enter the policy picture

A ceremony in Jamnagar marked the start of a new WHO centre for traditional medicine.

The centre aimed to support research and knowledge exchange on traditional medicine.

WHO cited Ayurveda and other systems while calling for evidence-based study.

The groundbreaking was a commitment to study and policy development, not approval of every remedy.

Publication date: the African Traditional Medicine Day message said more than 40 countries had national policies, up from eight in 2000.

Publication date: WHO said 39 countries had established frameworks regulating traditional medicine practitioners.

Publication date: the WHO message described 34 research institutes in 26 countries focused on quality, safety and efficacy.

Bangladesh achieved elimination of lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem.

Large-scale treatment and monitoring reduced lymphatic filariasis in affected communities.

Health workers used repeated medicine campaigns in areas where the infection had circulated.