Traditional medicine is a vital yet often neglected part of healthcare in the developing world. In Africa and Asia, more than two in three people reply on traditional remedies as their primary healthcare.
Pharmaceutical companies and medical researchers in the developed world, faced with rising drug development costs and growing drug resistance, are increasingly turning to traditional medicine to find solutions to the world’s most pressing health problems.
But integrating modern and traditional medicine faces numerous challenges stemming from the fundamental differences in how each is practiced, evaluated and managed. How can medical researchers and practitioners bridge the gap?
Our spotlight provides a series of articles and commentaries from global experts that:
– ask how modern and traditional medicine can complement each other;
– debate key issues such as knowledge protection, evaluation, regulation and drug discovery;
– highlight effective strategies for integrating traditional medicine into national health systems; and
– provide advice to policymakers on the ground.