Traditional medicine is a concept that goes beyond the scope of healthcare and touches social, religious, political and economic considerations. It is a set of systems for managing suffering that draw on theories relating to the body, health, illness, suffering and healing that have their roots in the history of the cultures and religions that shape a country (Epelboin 2002). As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), traditional medicine is “the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness” (WHO 2000). There are almost as many types of traditional medicine as there are cultures in the world. Traditional medical practices are the residue of generations and cultures that no longer exist, fragments of symbolic thought, rituals sacred and profane, which have been preserved, applied and passed on by “divine healers”, also known as traditional practitioners.

Traditional medicine is not only practiced in developing countries, but also in industrialized ones, where it constitutes a rapidly expanding sector that draws on existing scientific and technological expertise. In such countries, traditional medicine is known as alternative, complementary or parallel medicine. Many methods are employed in traditional medicine, and these vary between individuals and societies. They range from the use of plants and animal organs to psychological and religious practices. Thanks to the combination of clinical and therapeutic knowledge, and clairvoyant techniques and abilities from invisible worlds, traditional practitioners give meaning to the ailments that affect the individual body and the social context of their patients by revealing the causality between events, whether biological or otherwise. People turn to traditional medicine chiefly because of its proximity and ease of access, as well as its availability and philosophical concordance with indigenous cultures. Traditional practices are expanding in many countries, and are thus taking on greater importance in healthcare as well as in economic terms. Yet one must not turn a blind eye to the inherent difficulties of traditional practices such as, lack of regulation, assessment, control and training, or to the dangers of offering healthcare that is most likely to be taken up by a specific sector of the population because it is accessible and cheap. In other words, conventional medicine might become the medicine of “the rich”, and traditional medicine practice for the poor. Traditional medicine can make an effective contribution to improve human health provided that the countries in which it is practiced implement certain measures, such as those relating to the integration of traditional practices into the healthcare system and the efforts to address safety, efficacy, quality, accessibility and rational use. All these measures should be accompanied by regulatory and ethical standards. To this aim, in its work programme for 2010–2011, the UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee (IBC) included the subject of traditional medicine to elaborate the ethical implications of these widespread and highly varied practices. After two years work, as well as internal and external consultations with relevant stakeholders the IBC report on Traditional medicine systems and their ethical implications was developed in January 2013 (UNESCO-IBC Report 2013).

Finally, it should be emphasized that traditional knowledge of medicine deserves to be protected and recognized for its intrinsic value, particularly in social, spiritual, economic, intellectual, scientific, environmental, technological, educational and cultural terms. This collective heritage of indigenous peoples is a focal point for the World Health Organization (WHO), which promotes the integration of traditional medicine into healthcare systems, and for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),¹ which endeavours primarily to “protect” traditional medical knowledge by means of intellectual property law.