The Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine commenced in New Delhi on 17 December 2025 at Bharat Mandapam, with the inaugural ceremony presided over by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda in the presence of Union Minister Prataprao Jadhav.
A video message from WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was played. The three-day summit, running until 19 December 2025, is jointly organised by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Ayush under the theme “Restoring Balance: The Science and Practice of Health and Well-Being,” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to attend the closing ceremony.
Dr Tedros referred to the adoption of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 by the World Health Assembly, which focuses on strengthening scientific evidence, ensuring safety and quality through regulation, integrating traditional, complementary and integrative medicine into national health systems beginning with primary health care, and expanding its value for biodiversity, sustainability and community well-being. He noted the establishment of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India to implement the strategy.
Prataprao Jadhav highlighted India’s collaboration with WHO since 2016 to mainstream traditional medicine through science, standards and evidence, including the launch of ICD-11 Module 2 in 2024 integrating Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani morbidity codes, ongoing work on the International Classification of Health Interventions, and the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre at Jamnagar scheduled for completion in October 2025.
Ministry of Ayush Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha said the summit builds on the first WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine and the Gujarat Declaration, reaffirming commitments to science-based, equitable and sustainable traditional medicine, strengthening regulation and integration into health systems, safeguarding biodiversity and traditional knowledge, and leveraging frontier technologies.
Dignitaries present included steering committee co-chairs from Malaysia and South Africa, the Director a.i. of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre, the Health Minister of South Africa, the Vice Commissioner of China’s National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and a member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
A parallel session on Ashwagandha reviewed clinical evidence and discussed scientific validation, safety, standardisation and regulatory frameworks for its global use.
