WHO launches the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library

New Delhi, India, 19 December 2025-The World Health Organization (WHO) officially launched the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library during the 2nd WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit, held from 17 to 19 December 2025 in New Delhi, India.

The Library, developed by the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in coordination with the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre, constitutes a new global information resource aimed at strengthening traditional, complementary and integrative medicine (TCIM) within health systems. Its approach brings together traditional knowledge, scientific evidence and digital transformation to support more equitable, culturally appropriate public policies and to strengthen health systems.

This initiative represents a strategic step forward in articulating traditional knowledge, scientific evidence, and digital transformation to support more equitable and culturally appropriate public policies aimed at strengthening health systems. It is grounded in the Gujarat Declaration (2023) and aligned with WHO's Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025-2034.

Traditional knowledge, scientific evidence and health equity

Worldwide, billions of people rely on traditional, Indigenous, complementary, and integrative practices for health promotion, disease prevention, and maternal, neonatal, mental, and community care. In many contexts, these practices constitute the primary pathway to health care, particularly for Indigenous Peoples, rural communities, and populations in vulnerable situations.

Despite their relevance, policymakers, health professionals and researchers still face significant challenges in accessing, organizing and assessing information and evidence related to TCIM in a safe, effective, cost-effective and culturally appropriate manner. The WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library addresses this challenge by offering a reliable, structured and inclusive digital platform that brings together ancestral knowledge and contemporary science in support of public health.

According to João Paulo Souza, Director of BIREME and Editor-in-Chief of the Library, the initiative is consolidating itself as a global public good, designed to support national policies, regulation, research and clinical practice, with a focus on equity, diversity of health care systems and respect for the collective intellectual property of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. "Achieving the highest attainable standard of health and wellbeing for all requires embracing the complexity of health as a multidimensional state rooted in harmony between the self, the community and the environment," stated João Paulo during the launch.

About the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library

The WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library is an inclusive and specialized digital information resource developed in collaboration with WHO Member States, civil society organizations, professional networks, academic institutions and initiatives across all WHO Regions.

Its architecture comprises a global portal, six regional portals corresponding to the WHO Regions, and country-specific pages for 194 countries, enabling access to information according to national, regional and thematic contexts. Currently, the Library brings together:

• More than 1.6 million records, including over 1 million full-text documents from databases such as MEDLINE, LILACS and other international repositories;
• 112 databases and 178 journals specialized in traditional, complementary and integrative medicine;
• Access to scientific publications, digital repositories, literature reviews, evidence maps and other resources for policymakers, health professionals, TCIM practitioners, researchers and the general public.

Specialized thematic pages

The WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library organizes part of its content into specialized thematic pages covering different areas of health care. The first thematic page published -developed in collaboration with PAHO- has been available since the portal's pre-launch and is dedicated to Traditional Birth Assistance in the Americas.

For Gerry Eijkemans, Director of the Department of Social and Environmental Determinants for Health Equity at PAHO, the initiative contributes to recognizing, valuing and preserving ancestral knowledge that has historically sustained care practices fundamental to maternal and neonatal health and community well-being. "Traditional birth assistance represents one of the oldest and most profound expressions of peoples' knowledge, and its recognition is essential to strengthening more equitable and culturally sensitive health systems," she noted.

Seven additional specialized pages dedicated to Indian practices of the AYUSH system (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homeopathy) are also available. This development model, implemented through a co-creation approach involving technical teams, communities and practitioners, strengthens the visibility of traditional practices, promotes intercultural dialogue and inspires the creation of new thematic pages in different regions of the world.

Digital innovation and equitable access to information

To support evidence-informed decision-making, the WHO Traditional Medicine Global Library incorporates innovative digital tools that expand the strategic use of knowledge in health policies and practices, including Evidence Maps, database catalogues and TMGL GPT, an artificial intelligence model developed to support the organization, search and analysis of information related to TCIM.

The initiative also benefits from a partnership with Research4Life, which provides free or low-cost access to scientific and technical information for eligible institutions in low- and middle-income countries, thereby expanding global access to health knowledge.