The Fifth Meeting of the BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine (BTFTM) and the Symposium on Best Practice in Traditional Medicine Systems of BIMSTEC Member States was held in Nonthaburi, Thailand on 26-28 June 2023, with the participation of delegations from all seven BIMSTEC Member States – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
The Meeting was chaired by the head of delegation of the host country, Thailand – Dr. Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, Director General of the Department of Traditional and Alternative Medicine of the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand.
The two-day Meeting on 26 and 27 June reviewed the implementation of the BIMSTEC Plan of Action for Development of Traditional Medicine that had been adopted in 2020 during the Third Meeting of the Task Force, and agreed on further steps to be taken on a range of activities such as the development of the BIMSTEC Traditional Medicine Portal; sharing Pharmacopoeia of BIMSTEC Member States; conducting systematic review of research in diabetes and COVID-19; convening a Conference on Traditional Medicine Knowledge, Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights; and the publication of the ‘Traditional Medicine Systems of BIMSTEC Member States -2023 Report’. On 29 June, on the sidelines of the Twentieth National Herbs Expo of Thailand, a Symposium on Best Practice in Traditional Medicine Systems of BIMSTEC Member States was held at the Impact Exhibition and Convention Centre in Nonthaburi.
The officials of the Department of Traditional and Alternative Medicine of Thailand also arranged for the delegates from the BIMSTEC Member States to visit the Centre of Applied Thai Traditional Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine, Sriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, in Bangkok; and the Thai Traditional Medicine Museum in Nonthaburi.
This was the first time in three years that the Task Force met physically, with the last physical meeting (Third Meeting of the Task Force) having been held in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fourth Meeting of the Task Force was held in virtual format from Colombo, Sri Lanka, in January 2022. The Sixth Meeting of the Task Force will take place in Sri Lanka in 2024.
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