Pariksha SaathiBRICS declaration welcomes proposed traditional-medicine expert group
Traditional medicine found a place in the 18th BRICS Summit's New Delhi Declaration, which welcomed a proposal to create a BRICS Expert Working Group on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM), to sit within the BRICS Health Track. The group is envisaged as a structured forum where member states can hold dialogue, collaborate and exchange experience, with an emphasis on research and evidence generation; consensus on its Terms of Reference was reached at a BRICS meeting on TCIM held in Chandigarh on 21 July 2026 under India's chairship. The Declaration also seeks closer research cooperation into medicinal plants and herbal preparations for therapeutic and preventive use, noting that members' shared traditional pharmacopoeias could underpin safe, effective and affordable therapeutic products, and it reaffirms that TCIM practices and products must be shown to be of good quality, safe and effective, through evidence-informed regulation suited to each country. It links TCIM to stronger health systems and progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Ayush Minister of State (Independent Charge) Prataprao Jadhav called the recognition an important step for global cooperation in traditional medicine.
Drafted with AI assistance from a live web search; a second AI pass confirmed the official link above and checked a sample of the facts against it. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
The WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre (GTMC) was established by the World Health Organization in 2022 with foundational support from the Government of India. It is a WHO Headquarters department, outposted to Jamnagar, Gujarat, and serves as a knowledge hub on traditional medicine, focusing on research and evidence, health systems, sustainability and equity, and innovation and technology.
Reference: WHO's Global Traditional Medicine Centre overview page
Check yourself: is the Jamnagar traditional medicine centre a BRICS institution?
No. The GTMC belongs to the WHO (a WHO Headquarters department outposted to India). The BRICS Expert Working Group on TCIM in this news item is a separate mechanism under the BRICS Health Track, and the Declaration only welcomed its proposed establishment.
Revision task: list what the New Delhi Declaration actually did (welcomed a proposed expert group, called for research cooperation on medicinal plants) separately from bodies that already exist (WHO's GTMC, India's Ministry of Ayush).
Test yourself
The 18th BRICS Summit's New Delhi Declaration welcomed a proposal to create a BRICS Expert Working Group on what subject?
Show the answer
Answer: Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine
The proposed Expert Working Group on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) would sit within the BRICS Health Track; consensus on its Terms of Reference was reached at a BRICS meeting on TCIM in Chandigarh on 21 July 2026 under India's chairship.
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