Integrative Medicine in Global Health: Pathways for Implementation

Traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) encompasses medical practices that are based on different health models than conventional medicine and that are not fully part of mainstream healthcare. These practices have the potential to improve global healthcare, as they often have emerging evidence of effectiveness and safety, are cost-effective, and can provide access to healthcare with comparatively few resources. While T&CM is the only access to healthcare in some regions of the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for the targeted and structured combination of evidence-based T&CM with conventional medicine in the sense of integrative medicine.

By emphasizing prevention, resilience and a health-promoting lifestyle, integrative medicine is an important approach to improving health outcomes in various fields of healthcare. It also fulfills a demand from patients worldwide: one-quarter to three-quarters of the global population use T&CM, and a substantial proportion of the world's population is in favor of integrative medicine. However, only 11 of the 194 WHO member states fully integrated T&CM into their healthcare systems.

This session brings together leading experts in health policy, health education, and T&CM implementation research to discuss the opportunities and challenges of implementing integrative medicine on a global scale. Participants will describe strategies for integrating evidence-based T&CM into conventional medicine, overcoming regulatory challenges, and promoting collaboration between different health systems. Health policy aspects as well as scientific findings from implementation research will be highlighted, and the prominent role of education in T&CM is presented.