WHO explores how AI could bring science to traditional healing

The World Health Organization (WHO) opened a major conference on traditional medicine in New Delhi on Wednesday, making the case that modern technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), could help bring scientific scrutiny to healing practices that have been used for centuries.

The three-day meeting is focused on how governments can better regulate traditional medicine while using emerging scientific tools to assess which treatments are safe, effective and ready to be integrated into modern healthcare systems.

WHO officials say the goal is not to replace conventional medicine, but to make long-standing practices more evidence-based and compatible with contemporary health care.

“Traditional medicine is not a thing of the past,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a video message released ahead of the conference.

“There is a growing demand for traditional medicine across countries, communities, and cultures,” he said.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a vocal supporter of yoga and traditional wellness systems, said the summit would “intensify efforts to harness” the potential of traditional medicine. Modi has also backed the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine, which was launched in 2022 in Gujarat, his home state.

Shyama Kuruvilla, who heads the centre, told AFP that the widespread use of traditional remedies is “a global reality”. She noted that between 40 and 90 percent of people in 90 percent of WHO member states rely on such treatments.

“With half the world's population lacking access to essential health services, traditional medicine is often the closest, or only care, available for many people,” she said.

At the same time, WHO officials acknowledge the challenges. Many traditional treatments lack strong scientific backing, and environmental groups warn that rising demand has fuelled illegal trade in endangered species.

“WHO's role, therefore, is to help countries ensure that, as with any other medicine, traditional medicine is safe, evidence-informed, and equitably integrated in systems,” Kuruvilla said.

She also pointed out that modern medicine already owes much to nature. “40 percent or more of biomedical Western medicine, pharmaceuticals, derive from natural products,” she said, citing examples ranging from aspirin to cancer treatments.

Looking ahead, WHO sees new technologies as a game changer.

“It’s a huge, huge opportunity, and industry has realised this,” Kuruvilla said.

The organisation is launching what it calls the world’s largest digital research library on traditional medicine, housing 1.6 million scientific records. WHO chief scientist Dr Sylvie Briand said AI could play a crucial role.

“Artificial intelligence, for instance, can screen millions of compounds, helping us understand the complex structure of herbal products and extract relevant constituents to maximise benefit and minimise adverse effects,” she said.

For Kuruvilla, the moment feels pivotal. “It is the frontier science that's allowing us to make this bridge... connecting the past and the future,” she said.