Experts and practitioners from over 60 countries meet ahead of COP 30 to advance public health and planetary well-being

3rd World Congress on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) takes place in Rio de Janeiro, October 15–18

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – October 14, 2025 – As the world prepares for COP 30 in Brazil, the convergence of health, climate, innovation, and traditional medicine knowledge takes center stage. From October 15–18, 2025, Rio de Janeiro will host the 3rd World Congress on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) – a historic global gathering bringing together practitioners, policymakers, Indigenous leaders, and researchers from over 60 countries to debate how TCIM can strengthen public health, protect biodiversity, and promote climate resilience.

Under the theme “Strengthening Global Public Health through TCIM: Knowledge Diversity, Well-Being Societies, and Planetary Health,” the agenda includes expertise from six regions of the planet representing a worldwide movement of integration of traditional practices, scientific research, and public health policies. The event is organized by the Brazilian Academic Consortium for Integrative Health (CABSIN), the International Society for Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine Research (ISCMR), and the European Society of Integrative Medicine (ESIM).

“This week in Latin America is a historic first, as scientific evidence and traditional healing from around the world come together to build bridges across disciplines to really benefit patients,” said Professor Ricardo Ghelman, WHO Adviser on TCIM and Chair of the 3rd World Congress. “Inspired by traditional knowledge and powered by research, together we are building a more balanced, people-centered, and climate-smart future for global health.”

WHO estimates that 88% of all countries and over ⅓ of the world population make regular therapeutic use of TCIM practices such as indigenous medicines, herbal medicine, acupuncture and others.

Participants at this 3rd World Congress on TCIM include scientists from Africa specialized in natural medicines and biodiversity; experts from India in Ayurvedic Medicine, and from China, in Traditional Chinese Medicine; Naturopathic Medicine representatives from many countries; researchers dedicated to studies of hundreds of native medicinal plants with anticancer properties, ayahuasca and psychedelic-assisted healing from Latin America; European researchers studying traditional treatments; and scientists from various countries focused on artificial intelligence (AI) progress and risks, to identify medicinal plants and improve global evidence for research and public health.

The Congress will be the stage for these and several other decisive initiatives to bridge traditional practice, scientific research, and public health policy worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) will conduct a pre-launch during the event of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Library, which contains over 1.7 million indexed publications – a significant achievement in connecting science and traditional knowledge systems. Brazil’s Ministry of Health, in turn, will present new measures to expand the offering of quality integrative care in the Unified Health System (SUS). CABSIN will launch new Evidence Maps on Integrative Pediatrics and Nature-Based Interventions.

At COP 28, more than 125 countries endorsed the United Arab Emirates Declaration on Climate and Health, recognizing the loss of traditional medicine knowledge as a climate-related concern. This week in Rio, science, public policy, and ancestral wisdom will work together to demonstrate how evidence-based traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine can help address chronic diseases, mental health crises, antimicrobial resistance, and climate-related health threats, while advancing sustainable, person-centered care systems.

Experts, researchers, and health practitioners will also share evidence based on rigorous clinical trials for treatments and practices that can benefit people everywhere. A practical example is the conservation and sustainable cultivation of the Amazonian plants Uncaria tomentosa (cat’s claw) and Paullinia cupana (guarana), which, when used alongside more conventional therapies, are shown to have a synergic effect and to work in harmony – more effectively than either approach alone – to ease one of the most common symptoms in cancer patients worldwide: cancer-related fatigue.

After countries approved the WHO Global Strategy on TCIM (2025–2034) in May, this 3rd World Congress on TCIM will feed directly into the global health policy process. The conclusions and recommendations generated this week in Rio de Janeiro will feed into the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit in Delhi, India, December 17–19, 2025, where leaders from around the world will continue to build a comprehensive vision for health systems that unite traditional wisdom, scientific evidence, and planetary well-being.

Brazil’s pioneering leadership in integrative health offers a solid foundation for these initiatives. Through its National Policy on Integrative and Complementary Practices (PNPIC), which marks 20 years in 2026, Brazil is among the few countries that offer TCIM services free of charge in its public health system. In 2024, SUS recorded over nine million consultations, representing a 70% increase in just two years – evidence of the growing demand and tangible benefits in well-being and prevention.

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