WHO-GCTM is an outpost centre of WHO-HQ (Geneva) funded by the Government of India. It will help establishing strong linkages among the Member States of WHO. The WHO-GCTM would emerge as a centre of global wellness which will promote the development of medicines and research related to Traditional Medicines and will strengthen evidence-based research, training and awareness about Traditional Medicines.
The activities/scope of work of the WHO-GCTM is as follows:
- To act as a mentor for the development and shaping health research agenda, setting international norms and standards, providing technical support to countries, and monitoring & assessing health trends of traditional medicine.
- To establish research methodology standards and develop standards for clinical practice and protocols in traditional medicine.
- To ensure quality, safety and efficacy, accessibility and rational use of traditional medicine.
- To develop norms, standards, and guidelines in relevant technical areas, tools and methodologies for collecting data, undertaking analytics and assess impact.
- To build partnerships and collaborations within WHO, and special programs (IARC, WHO Academy, TDR, Alliance for Health Policy Research, Special program on PHC), other UN agencies, WHO collaborative centre networks, international organizations and professional associations, and objective-specific advocacy groups, in areas of relevance to the objectives.
- To develop specific capacity building and training programs in the areas of relevance to the objectives and conduct training programs in campus, residential, or web-based, and through partnerships with the WHO Academy and other strategic partners.
- To act as a guiding principle in developing guidelines for health technology assessment and health economics inferred from traditional medicine and support countries’ evolving strategies on this.
This information was given by Minister of Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.