Global Initiative for Traditional Systems of Health

Global Initiative for Traditional Systems of Health
Founded 1993
Location
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
 Gerard Bodeker[1]
Mission Validate traditional medicine
Website Official Site

The Global Initiative for Traditional Systems of Health (GIFTS) is a program launched in 1993 at the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, D.C. GIFTS states its purpose of "bringing into policy focus the importance of traditional (indigenous) medicine in the daily lives and health care of the majority of the population of most emerging economies."[2] Initially headquartered at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Washington D.C., in 1995 GIFTS moved to the University of Oxford. Initial funding was from the Office of Alternative Medicine at the United States National Institutes of Health.[2] GIFTS is sponsored by the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP). Other organizations participating financially and organizationally include the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Nature, the World Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and Green Templeton College at Oxford University.[3][4]

Work

GIFTS performed research in rural Tanzania, collecting data on popular knowledge of traditional medicinal plants, and uploading to a database to preserve the knowledge.[5][6] In the field of malaria, GIFTS has also coordinated an international research collaboration to address both prevention –through traditional methods for repelling and controlling mosquitoes– and treatment.[7] In 1999, GIFTS collaborated with WHO, the University of Oxford, and researchers around the world in the creation of the Research Initiative on Traditional Antimalarial Methods (RITAM), with the purpose of developing or validating local herbal medicines to prevent and treat malaria.[4][8][9] GIFTS also founded the HIV/AIDS Research Initiative on Traditional Healthcare in Africa (HARITHAF) in order to identify, assess, and develop safe and effective local treatments for HIV/AIDS-related illnesses.[10][11][12]

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Gerard Bodeker". Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Global Initiatives For Traditional Systems of Health". Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "FAO corporate document repository". Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Essential Medicines and Health Products Information Portal". Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Plantas medicinales, una opción para tratar la malaria". Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Africa: Turning to traditional medicines in fight against malaria". Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  7. ↑ Bodeker, Gerard; Burford, Gemma. Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Policy and Public ... Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  8. ↑ Ong, Nam; Halliwell, Barry. Herbal and Traditional Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "Research focuses on traditional antimalarials". Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  10. ↑ "Indigenous Approaches to the HIV/AIDS Scourge in Uganda" (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  11. ↑ Baronov, David. The African Transformation of Western Medicine and the Dynamics of Global ... Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  12. ↑ "Roles of Traditional Healers in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS" (PDF). Retrieved 4 December 2016.
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