Traditional care joins World Health Summit programme

The South African event opened with a ritual involving Mphepho, presented as part of a living knowledge tradition.

Practitioners trained with WHO support gave a demonstration connected to management of noncommunicable diseases.

The event addressed integrating traditional health practitioners and knowledge within the wider national health system.

The 12 October panel discussed how to put the WHO global traditional medicine strategy into national practice.

At the World Health Summit, speakers examined the move from international strategy to country-level action.

The session discussed practical collaboration and responsible integration of traditional care.

BIREME and PAHO pre-launched the WHO library at a Rio de Janeiro congress on 17 October, before its December official launch.

At the Rio congress, director João Paulo Souza presented the resource and requested suggestions from practitioners and specialists.

The preview highlighted plans to gather and organize health information across traditional and integrative medicine topics.

This date marks a public preview of the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library, distinct from its official December launch.