New Delhi (17–19 December 2025): The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Government of India (Ministry of Ayush) convened the Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, bringing together policymakers, researchers, regulators, Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders, practitioners, and industry leaders from 100+ countries. The summit’s headline message was clear: traditional medicine is already used by billions worldwide, but its role in national health systems must be strengthened through evidence, safety, quality standards, and responsible integration—not hype.

Why this summit matters now

Traditional medicine (TM) sits at the intersection of culture, community trust, and health access. In many regions, it is the first point of care, especially where shortages of doctors, hospitals, and affordable treatment persist. At the same time, TM is also a fast-growing global market—wellness products, herbal remedies, and integrative care clinics are expanding across continents. This growth raises urgent questions: How do health systems ensure quality and safety? How do regulators prevent misleading claims? How can research be strengthened without erasing the knowledge traditions and rights of communities that have preserved these systems for generations?

WHO positioned the second summit as a platform to push the global conversation from admiration and anecdotes toward structured pathways: better clinical evidence where appropriate, stronger pharmacovigilance (safety monitoring), product quality benchmarks, education standards, data systems, and research collaborations that respect biocultural knowledge.

From Gujarat (2023) to Delhi (2025): moving from declaration to delivery

The first WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine (held in India in 2023) produced the widely discussed Gujarat Declaration, which called for evidence-based integration of traditional medicine into health systems and stronger research and policy frameworks. In Delhi, the second summit was framed as the next step—moving from high-level commitments to implementation mechanisms, partnerships, and practical tools that governments and institutions can actually use.

Scale and structure: what happened over three days

According to India’s official briefing on the event, the summit featured 170+ expert speakers, 25+ sessions, representation from 100+ countries, and a curated set of selected innovations showcased to participants. The attendee mix was designed to be unusually broad: health ministries and regulators sat alongside scientists, traditional practitioners, and industry—because integration requires alignment across policy, standards, and real-world delivery.

News coverage around the event also highlighted specific thematic discussions—such as how traditional herbs like Ashwagandha can be assessed and used safely in integrative settings, and how global interest is increasing in Ayurvedic and other traditional systems when backed by quality and evidence frameworks.

WHO’s core emphasis: “evidence, integration, innovation” (and accountability)

WHO’s official news release about the summit used three words repeatedly—evidence, integration, and innovation—but the intent behind them was not promotional. It was regulatory and public-health oriented:

• Evidence: strengthen research methods, data quality, and knowledge synthesis so that claims can be evaluated responsibly.

• Integration: support member states that want to include TM services in national health coverage, while building safeguards for safety, training, and referral systems.

• Innovation: encourage appropriate digital and scientific tools—databases, protocols, surveillance systems, and research platforms—without turning TM into a “free-for-all” wellness trend.

WHO’s Director-General also delivered remarks at the closing of the summit, thanking India for hosting and emphasizing WHO’s ongoing engagement in this space—signaling that TM is no longer treated as a side topic, but as a structured global health workstream.

India’s spotlight: new initiatives launched alongside the summit

A major reason this summit drew global attention is that India used the occasion to announce and showcase new initiatives aimed at making traditional medicine more standardized, accessible, and globally legible.

1) Traditional Medicine Global Library (TMGL): a “global e-library” for traditional medicine knowledge

Indian media reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the launch of a Traditional Medicine Global Library (TMGL), described as a shared international platform intended to anchor systems such as Ayurveda and Yoga within research, policy, and evidence-based care frameworks. The idea is to make knowledge more searchable, comparable, and usable for research and policy—particularly important when different countries use different naming, formulations, and documentation styles.

If executed well (and adopted widely), such a library can support:

• standard terminology and reference information,

• research mapping (what evidence exists, where gaps remain),

• policy design and training resources,

• and potentially better pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring through clearer identification of substances and formulations.

2) “Ayush Mark” and service standardization

India’s Prime Minister’s Office announced that the Prime Minister would also unveil the Ayush Mark, positioned as a global benchmark for the quality of Ayush products and services, and launch the My Ayush Integrated Services Portal. These steps reflect a push toward quality assurance, trust-building, and easier navigation of services—especially for international audiences and cross-border health markets. PM India

From a global health perspective, quality markers matter because consumer trust is fragile: one major safety incident, contamination issue, or misleading claim can set back credibility across the entire TM sector. A credible mark only works if it is backed by transparent standards and enforcement—something regulators and industry will have to collaborate on.

3) International policy momentum: trade and market access

Separate but related developments show TM’s rising diplomatic and economic footprint. For example, India’s inclusion of traditional medicine in a free trade agreement framework with Oman was reported as a step to enhance market access for Ayush products in the Gulf region. While this is not the summit itself, it illustrates the summit’s broader context: TM is increasingly linked to trade, standards, and international market pathways—making quality and regulation even more important.

What countries came to solve: the real integration challenges

Beneath the ceremonial announcements, the summit’s practical value lies in aligning global stakeholders around the hardest integration problems.

Safety, interactions, and responsible use

Traditional medicine is often used alongside modern medicines. That raises questions about herb–drug interactions, dosing, contraindications, contamination risks, and adverse event reporting systems. Without safety frameworks, integration becomes risky—especially at scale.

Evidence standards without “one-size-fits-all”

Different traditional systems work through different paradigms. WHO’s framing recognizes that research must be rigorous, but also culturally respectful. This requires methodological creativity: not every intervention fits a single clinical-trial template, yet public policy cannot rely purely on belief or tradition.

Training, licensing, and referral pathways

Integration is not just about adding clinics or products. It’s about:

• practitioner education standards,

• licensing and regulation,

• referral protocols (when to escalate care),

• and clarity for patients on what TM can and cannot do.

Protecting Indigenous and community knowledge

Globalization of traditional knowledge can lead to exploitation—commercial use without benefit-sharing, misappropriation, or erasure of the communities that created and preserved it. International dialogue is increasingly focused on governance models that protect rights and ensure ethical collaboration.

Innovation showcased: when “modern tools” meet “traditional systems”

India’s summit materials referenced “selected innovations,” and the broader theme across sessions was likely to include digital and scientific enablers—such as:

• digital registries and libraries (like TMGL),

• standardization tools for ingredients/formulations,

• quality testing protocols,

• and surveillance/reporting systems for safety.

This kind of innovation is less glamorous than “miracle cure” narratives, but it is exactly what makes traditional medicine viable in public health systems.

Closing messages: cooperation, research, and simplified regulation

In the official summary of the Prime Minister’s remarks at the closing ceremony, the emphasis included dialogue among health ministers and country representatives, opening avenues for joint research, simplified regulations, and training and knowledge sharing—a signal that the summit aimed to produce not just speeches, but operational cooperation.

What to watch next: the post-summit checklist

For citizens, clinicians, and industry watchers, the most important question is: what changes after the summit ends? Here’s what will likely determine whether Delhi 2025 becomes a turning point:

1. Adoption of standards: Will more countries align on quality and safety benchmarks (including labeling, contamination thresholds, and manufacturing norms)?

2. Research partnerships: Will universities, hospitals, and TM institutions launch joint programs with shared datasets and transparent methodologies?

3. Library usefulness: Will TMGL become widely used, multilingual, and practically helpful—or remain a symbolic launch?

4. Regulatory clarity: Will regulators create pathways that allow responsible products and services to scale while filtering out misleading claims?

5. Equity and ethics: Will benefit-sharing and protection of community knowledge become enforceable norms rather than optional principles?

Bottom line

The Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine in New Delhi (17–19 December 2025) showed that traditional medicine is no longer treated as a niche cultural topic. It is now a mainstream global health agenda item—connected to universal health coverage, research integrity, regulation, and international cooperation.

What made this summit notable was the attempt to balance two forces: respect for long-standing knowledge systems and the modern public-health demand for evidence, quality, and accountability. If follow-through happens—through standards, research, data systems, and ethical governance—the Delhi summit may be remembered as a moment when the world began integrating traditional medicine more responsibly and systematically, rather than treating it as either folklore or a marketing trend.