Govt support, investments needed to support innovation in traditional medicine: WHO chief

World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus on Wednesday said that long-term strategic investments along with government support are crucial for fostering innovation in the field of traditional medicine.

He was speaking at the inaugural function of the three-day Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit at Mahatma Mandir here in Gujarat.

”Long term strategic investments along with government commitment are needed to support the innovation ecosystem for medicine in general and traditional medicine in particular,” said the WHO DG.

He called for ”innovators, industry and government to develop traditional medicine in a sustainable, environmentally sensitive and equitable manner”.

”When bringing traditional medicines into markets, we must ensure that the communities who had nurtured it and passed on this knowledge also benefit from their development,” said Ghebreyesus in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.