The World Health Organization (WHO) has outlined a research agenda focused on traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine for the next decade. This agenda highlights critical health conditions including stroke, mental health, pain management, musculoskeletal conditions, cancer, metabolic and endocrine disorders, and reproductive health and childbirth.
Read More
The WHO's 2025-2034 research priorities also emphasize prevention and health promotion, as well as healthy aging and childhood. A report accompanying this agenda underscores a significant gap between the burden of these diseases and available research funding. For example, stroke is the third leading cause of mortality and disability globally, yet less than 1% of funding for traditional medicine research addresses it. Similarly, mental health, which contributes significantly to disability-adjusted life years, has seen minimal targeted grants.
Musculoskeletal conditions, a major cause of disability worldwide, are also largely under-researched. Cancer is included among the priority areas due to its increasing global prevalence, calling for attention to integrative oncology and palliative care.
Additionally, WHO emphasizes the need for more substantial evidence regarding metabolic and endocrine disorders, particularly in relation to long-term conditions like type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The organization aims to strengthen the evidence base regarding the effectiveness, safety, regulation, and health-system integration of these approaches in healthcare.
Patient safety is another key focus of the research agenda, which proposes studies on herb-drug interactions, adverse event monitoring, and the regulatory and quality-assurance systems needed for safe incorporation of traditional medicine into primary healthcare.
This initiative comes amid a significant funding deficit. WHO notes that, while traditional medicine is widely utilized, with some populations reporting usage rates as high as 80%, less than 1% of global health research funding is allocated to this field.
India's involvement in this initiative is noteworthy, as it provided financial support through its Ministry of Ayush for the report's development and publication. Furthermore, India participated in the Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine held in New Delhi in December 2025. It is important to note that the report serves as a framework for prioritizing research rather than a clinical guideline or endorsement of specific traditional medicines.