General guidelines for methodologies on research and evaluation of traditional medicine

Overview

The guidelines focus on the current major debates on safety and efficacy of traditional medicine, and are intended to raise and answer some challenging questions concerning the evidence base. They also clarify certain commonly used but unclear definitions.

The guidelines present some national regulations for the evaluation of herbal medicine, and also recommend new approaches for carrying out clinical research, for example, using the WHO QOL user manual. The quality of life (QOL) manual was developed by the WHO Programme on Mental Health, and may also be used to evaluate the results of clinical research in traditional medicine.

Although the guidelines have been carefully developed and modified, based on comments received from various experts and national health authorities across the world, there still may be other issues and views that, unintentionally, have General guidelines for methodologies on research and evaluation of traditional medicine vi not been included. Unfortunately, it is possible that some experts in the field may not have been consulted, due to WHO’s limited budget and time for preparation. There can be no doubt that the guidelines will achieve their purpose of improving the quality and value of research in traditional medicine. It is anticipated that the guidelines will be revised again in the near future, in response to developments in research in traditional medicine.