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Fact Sheet N 134
September 1996
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
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The term "traditional medicine" refers to ways of
protecting and restoring health that existed before the arrival of
modern medicine. As the term implies, these approaches to health belong
to the traditions of each country, and have been handed down from
generation to generation. Traditional systems in general have had to
meet the needs of the local communities for many centuries. China and
India, for example, have developed very sophisticated systems such as
acupuncture and ayurvedic medicine. In practice, the term "traditional
medicine" refers to the following components: acupuncture, traditional
birth attendants, mental healers and herbal medicine.
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Over the years, the World Health Assembly has adopted a
number of resolutions drawing attention to the fact that most of the
populations in various developing countries around the world depends on
traditional medicine for primary health care, that the work force
represented by practitioners of traditional medicine is a potentially
important resource for the delivery of health care and that medicinal
plants are of great importance to the health of individuals and
communities.
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Through its Traditional Medicine Programme, the World
Health Organization (WHO) supports Member States in their efforts to
formulate national policies on traditional medicine, to study the
potential usefulness of traditional medicine including evaluation of
practices and examination of the safety and efficacy of remedies, to
upgrade the knowledge of traditional and modern health practitioners, as
well as to educate and inform the general public about proven
traditional health practices.
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WHO is working closely with 19 Collaborating Centres in
ten countries (Belgium, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea,
Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Romania, Sudan, United States of
America and Vietnam).
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A genuine interest in various traditional practices now
exists among practitioners of modern medicine and growing numbers of
practitioners of traditional, indigenous or alternative systems are
beginning to accept and use some of the modern technology. This will
help foster teamwork among all categories of health workers within the
framework of primary health care. The reasons for the inclusion of
traditional healers in primary health care are manifold: the healers
know the sociocultural background of the people; they are highly
respected and experienced in their work; economic considerations; the
distances to be covered in some countries; the strength of traditional
beliefs; the shortage of health professionals, particularly in rural
areas, to name just a few.
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A large proportion of the population in a number of
developing countries still relies on traditional practitioners,
including traditional birth attendants, herbalists and bone-setters and
on local medicinal plants to satisfy their primary health care needs.
WHO estimates that traditional birth attendants assist in up to 95% of
all rural births and 70% of urban births in developing countries.
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Traditional medicine has maintained its popularity in a
number of Asian countries, such as China, India, Japan and Pakistan. In
China, for example, traditional medicines (herbal preparations) account
for 30% to 50% of the total medicinal consumption. In 1993, the total
sales of herbal medicines amounted to more than US$ 2.5 billion. In
Japan, from 1974 to 1989, there was a 15-fold increase in Kampoh
("Chinese method") medicinal preparations in comparison with only
2.6-fold increase in the sales of mainstream pharmaceutical products.
The Japanese per capita consumption of herbal medicine appears to be the
highest in the world.
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During the last decade, there has also been a growing
interest in traditional and alternative systems of medicine in many
developed countries. One-third of American adults have used alternative
treatment and 60% of the public in the Netherlands and Belgium, and 74%
in the United Kingdom are in favour of complementary medicine being
available within the framework of the National Health Service. A survey
among Member States of the European Union in 1991, identified about 1400
herbal drugs used in the European Economic Community.
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Medicinal plants are the oldest known health-care
products. Their importance is still growing although it varies depending
on the ethnological, medical and historical background of each country.
Medicinal plants are also important for pharmacological research and
drug development, not only when plant constituents are used directly as
therapeutic agents, but also when they are used as basic materials for
the synthesis of drugs or as models for pharmacologically active
compounds.
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Legislative controls in respect of medicinal plants
have not evolved around a structured control model. There are different
ways in which countries define medicinal plants or herbs. As a result,
different approaches have been adopted with regard to licensing,
dispensing, manufacturing and trading in order to ensure the safety,
quality, and efficacy of medicinal plant preparations.
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Herbal medicines are assuming greater importance in the
primary health care of individuals and communities in many developing
countries and there has been an increase in international trade in
herbal medicines. However, in most countries the herbal medicines market
is not adequately regulated, and the products are therefore unregistered
and often not controlled by regulatory bodies. The establishment of
regulation and registration procedures has become a major concern in
both developed and developing countries.
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WHO has compiled a list of medicinal plants which are
widely used in primary health care. In July 1996, a WHO scientific group
involving 100 experts from various countries around the world adopted
the list which includes 28 monographs of 28 medicinal plants originally
prepared by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine in
Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
For further information please contact Valery Abramov, Health
Communications and Public Relations, WHO, Geneva. Telephone (41 22) 791
2543 or Fax No. (41 22) 791 4858. E-mail abramovv@who.ch.
All WHO press releases, Fact Sheets and Features can be obtained on
Internet on the WHO home page http: //www.who.ch/
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