Traditional Medicine in Asia

Protection of traditional systems of medicine, patenting and promotion of medicinal plants
b) Methods of diagnosis and treatment,
including physical, mental and spiritual
therapies, which are influenced by the
culture and beliefs dominant in a
particular community. vii The traditional
therapies may encompass the use of
certain biological materials, including
dosage and forms of administration
thereof, and rituals applied by healers
as part of their traditional healing
methods.
Codification
The codification of TM varies significantly.
A distinction can be made, particularly in
Asia, between the codified systems of
‘traditional medicine’ and the non-codified
medicinal knowledge, which includes
“folk”, “tribal” or “indigenous” medicine.
Thus, in India, the system of medicine
consists of two major tendencies: the folk
and the codified traditions. Folk traditions
are handed down orally from generation
to generation. The codified tradition
consists of medical knowledge with
sophisticated theoretical foundations
expressed in thousands of manuscripts
covering all branches of medicine.
Examples are Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and
the Tibetan tradition. 7
The Ayurvedic system of medicine, in
particular, is codified in the 54 authoritative
books of this system. In contrast, the “folk”
medicine is based on traditional beliefs,
norms and practices based on centuriesold
experiences of trials and errors,
successes and failures at the household
level. These are passed through oral
tradition and may be called, “people’s
health culture”, home remedies or folk
remedies. They have a vital place in primary
health care in developing countries. 1
Individual/collective possession
TM may be possessed by individuals
(“individual knowledge”). viii In some cases,
for instance, healers use rituals as part of
their traditional healing methods, which
often allow them to monopolize their
knowledge, despite disclosure of the
phytochemical products or techniques
used. 8
In other cases, knowledge is in the
possession of some but not all members
of a group (“distributed knowledge”). There
is, hence, asymmetric information between
groups but not within a given group of
persons, even though the latter may not
be aware that others share the same
knowledge. 11
Finally, a certain kind of knowledge may
be available to all the members of a group
(“common knowledge”), such as in cases
of knowledge on herbal-home remedies
which is held by millions of women and
elders. ix
Commercial value
TM may encompass commercial value when
its application, and notably the delivery of TM
products, can be made trough commercial
channels. While some TM can be used and
understood outside its local/traditional/
communal context, this is not always the
vii Physical methods of treatment involve muscle manipulation and massage. Mental methods of treatment involve
self-discipline in the form, for instance, of a strict diet. Spiritual methods of treatment involve prayers and use of
holy water (9, p. 167).
viii Reviews of anthropological literature reveal that concepts close or equivalent to individual forms of IPRs are quite
common in indigenous and traditional proprietary systems (see, e.g., 10, p. 69).
ix For an alternative classification of modalities of knowledge possession based on the concept of “negative” and
“positive” community, see 15, p. 185).
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