Lok Sabha Question No. 5044 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-01
Subject: WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Ravindra Kushawaha, Ravi Kishan Shukla, Prataprao  Jadhav, Sudheer Gupta, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Bidyut Baran Mahato, Shrirang Appa Barne, Vellalath Kochukrishnan Nair. Sreekandan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-5044 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01/04/2022

## WHO GLOBAL CENTRE FOR TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

## 5044. SHRI MANOJ TIWARI,

SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE, SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA, SHRI RAVI KISHAN, SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV, SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA, SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK, SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE SHRI V.K.SREEKANDAN:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

- (a)    whether  the  Government  has  signed  an  agreement  with  the  World  Health  Organization (WHO)  to  establish  WHO  Global  Centre  for  Traditional  Medicine  (WHO  GCTM)  in  the country, if so, the details thereof and the benefits likely to accrue therefrom;
- (b)  whether the  Government has constituted any Joint Task Force for  coordination, execution and monitoring of activities for the establishment of this Centre and if so, the details and the composition thereof;
- (c) the time by which this Centre will be established and become fully functional alongwith the details of its work ambit;
- (d) the proportionate cost sharing between the Government of India and WHO for construction of above said Centre; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to provide essential health care services and safe, effective and affordable traditional medicines under Sustainable Development Goals by 2030?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF AYUSH (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

(a) Yes  Sir.  On  09  March,  2022,  the  Union  Cabinet  chaired  by  Hon'ble  Prime  Minister, approved signing and ratification of the Host Country Agreement (HCA) between Ministry of Ayush and World Health Organization (WHO) for establishment of WHO-GCTM to be located at Jamnagar, Gujarat. The Host Country Agreement was signed between the Ministry of Ayush and the WHO on 25th March, 2022 in a formal event hosted by WHO at WHO Hqs., Geneva, Switzerland. Following are the benefits of the WHO-GCTM:

-  To  position  Traditional  Systems  of  Medicines  including  AYUSH  systems  across  the globe.
-  To provide leadership on global health matters pertaining to traditional medicine.
-  To  strengthen  the  efforts  for  evidence  based  research  &  development,  training  and awareness about Traditional Medicines.
-  To  ensure  quality,  safety  and  efficacy,  accessibility  and  rational  use  of  traditional medicine.

(b) Yes  Sir.  The  Composition  of  the  Joint  Task  Force  for  coordination,  execution  and monitoring of activities for the establishment of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) is annexed.

(c) The proposed timeline for establishment of WHO-GCTM in India is 31 st March, 2024. The WHO-GCTM is to handle inter-alia work related to the following:

-  To implement WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023 and to support member states to develop regulations for traditional medicine.
-  To  identify  various  challenges  faced  by  the  countries  in  regulating,  integrating  and further  positioning  Traditional  Medicine  including  Ayurveda  &  Yoga  in  the  WHO's Member States countries and assist Member States to develop appropriate policy/regulation framework, exchange of information/activities performed for integration  of  traditional  medicine  in  public  health  and  dissemination  of  information about traditional medicine to the community.
-  To  develop  norms,  standards,  and  guidelines  in  relevant  technical  areas,  tools  and methodologies, for  collecting  data  undertaking  analytics,  and  assess  impact.    Envisage WHO TM Informatics centre creating a collaborative of existing TM Data banks, virtual libraries, and academic and research institutes.
-  To develop specific capacity building and training programmes in the areas of relevance to the objectives and conduct training programmes in campus, residential, or web-based, and through partnerships with the WHO Academy and other strategic partners.

(d) The  establishment  of  WHO-GCTM  is  to  be  fully  funded  by  Ministry  of  Ayush, Government of India.

(e) Following  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  to  provide  essential  health  care services and safe, effective and affordable traditional medicines under Sustainable Development Goals:

-  Government of India is implementing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission  (NAM)  in  the  country  for  promotion  and  development  of  AYUSH  system through  States/UTs.  The  National  AYUSH  Mission  inter-alia  makes  provisions  for establishment  &  upgradation  of  AYUSH  Health  &  Wellness  Centres  &  AYUSH Dispensaries, Setting up of up to 50 /30 /10 bedded integrated AYUSH Hospitals, Supply of  essential  drugs  to  Government  AYUSH  Hospitals,  Government  Dispensaries  and Government/Government aided Teaching Institutional AYUSH Hospitals, Infrastructural development  of  State  Government  Under-Graduate  and  Post-Graduate  Educational Institutions.
-  The Ministry of Ayush is implementing a Central Sector Scheme namely AYURSWASTHA Yojana. One of the objective of this scheme is to support financial assistance to the Individual Organizations/Institutes for implementing Sustainable Development  Goal-2  (SDG2)  and  Sustainable  Development  Goal  -3  (SDG  3)  through integrating AYUSH system.
-  Hospitals  attached  to  AIIA  and  other  National  Institutes  &  Research  Councils  are providing health services to the community.
-  For obtaining the manufacturing lincence as per the provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945,  the manufacturing of Ayurvedic (including Siddha) or unani drugs are to be carried out in  such premises & hygienic conditions as are specified in Schedule-T (Good Manufacturing Practices) and homoeopathy manufacturers are required to comply with the provisions of Schedule M1(Good Manufacturing Practices).
-  For Standardization of Indian and Homoeopathy  medicines  in the country, the Government  has  established  Pharmacopoeia  Commission  for  Indian  Medicine  and Homoeopathy  (PCIM&H)  under  the  Ministry  of  AYUSH  with  the  prime  mandate  to publish and revise Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (API), Siddha Pharmacopoeia of India (SPI), Unani Pharmacopoeia of India (UPI) and Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of India (HPI).
-  Ministry of AYUSH is implementing a Central Sector Scheme of Pharmacovigilance of Ayurveda,  Siddha  Unani  &  Homeopathy  Drugs  since  June  2018  for  inculcating  the culture of Adverse Drug Events (ADE) reporting, documentation and analysis for further regulatory action.

Composition of the Joint Task Force for coordination, execution and monitoring of activities for the establishment of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM)

## From WHO side

1. Dr.Shyama Kuruvilla, Senior Strategic Adviser, Universal Health Coverage and Life Course, WHO HQ, Geneva, Switzerland
2. Dr. John Reeder, Director Research for Health, and Director Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), WHO HQ, Geneva, Switzerland
3. Dr.  Qi  Zhang,  Unit  Head  -  Traditional,  Complementary  and  Integrative  Medicine, WHO HQ, Geneva, Switzerland
4. Dr.  Egle  Granziera,  Senior  Legal  Officer  -  International,  Constitutional  and  Global Health Law, WHO HQ, Geneva, Switzerland
5. Dr.  Manoj  Jhalani,  Director  -  Department  of  Health  Systems  Development,  WHO South East Asia,  Regional Office, New Delhi, India

## From Indian side

6. Prof. Bhushan Patwardhan, National Research Professor, Ministry of Ayush
7. Shri P.K. Pathak, Special Secretary, Ministry of Ayush;
8. Prof. Dr.Tanuja Nesari, Director, All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi
9. Mr.Vimarsh  Aryan,  First  Secretary  to  PMI,  Geneva  Switzerland  (World  Health Organization& UNAIDS and other health related matters).
10. Vd. Rajeshwari Singh, Research Officer, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, Ministry of Ayush