PAHO and Fiocruz strengthen cooperation in traditional medicine and integrative health practices

Fiocruz received on on August 6th the Regional Advisor for Services and Systems of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Gustavo Rossel, for a working meeting that resulted in the update of the activity calendar of an agreement on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicines (TCIM). Signed in 2023, the cooperation provides for joint research activities, event promotion, and production of publications that disseminate evidence and other knowledge on the subject in support of public policies in the Americas. The new calendar confirms the participation of representatives from both institutions in the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 30), scheduled for November in Belém (PA), among other initiatives.

Representatives from Fiocruz receive the regional advisor for Services and Systems at PAHO, Gustavo Rossel (photo: Gutemberg Brito, VPAAPS/Fiocruz)

“We are also planning a meeting, by the end of the year, with health managers from countries across the Americas to discuss issues relevant to the cooperation,” emphasized the Deputy Vice President of Environment, Health Care and Health Promotion (VPAAPS/Fiocruz), Patrícia Canto.

Also present at the meeting, the advisor of the Center for International Relations in Health (Cris) of the Vice Presidency of Global Health and International Relations of the Foundation, Sebastián Tobar, highlighted the importance of articulating, together with internal health research institutes, collaborations for joint action with countries across the continent.

Researcher Islândia Carvalho from Fiocruz Pernambuco, coordinator of the National Observatory of Traditional, Integrative and Complementary Knowledge and Practices in Health (ObservaPICS/Fiocruz), presented the progress of her actions and new activities. “We discussed the Observatory’s collaboration in the ten-year implementation of the Regional Plan of the Americas for Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicines,” added Islândia. ObservaPICS is responsible for the partnership with PAHO.

Partnership

With a five-year term, the partnership between PAHO/WHO and Fiocruz on the subject was signed on July 13, 2023. Together with the international organization, ObservaPICS has already conducted a mapping in the Americas on public policies for traditional medicines and Integrative and Complementary Health Practices (ICHP).

“The dialogue with the medicines of traditional peoples and with integrative practices recognized as care modalities in the region, among them the use of medicinal plants, is an important strategy to ensure comprehensive health, recognizing the culture of the territory and building bonds between users and health services,” recalls Islândia Carvalho.

In Brazil, there are 29 integrative practices recognized by the Unified Health System (SUS), mostly offered in Primary Health Care as complementary care.

ObservaPICS promotes TCIM as a tool for qualifying the SUS care model and increasingly seeks dialogue with health promotion and the comprehensiveness of health services and systems.