PIB TrackerCoding tradition: India works to place Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani in the WHO's global health-intervention system
The Ayush Ministry launched a five-day workshop to develop India's inputs to the WHO's International Classification of Health Interventions — building standardised codes for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani therapies to embed India's traditional medicine in the global digital-health and universal-health-coverage framework.
What happened
- The Ministry of Ayush launched a five-day workshop to develop India's inputs to the WHO's International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI).
- The aim is a standardised, layered hierarchy of National Health Intervention Codes (NHIC) for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani (ASU).
- It positions India's traditional medicine within the global digital-health ecosystem and universal-health-coverage frameworks.
- It is organised by CCRAS through its WHO Collaborating Centre (NIIMH, Hyderabad).
- The repository covers hundreds of ASU specialties, therapies and procedures; Ayush Secretary Rajesh Kotecha called it 'more than a coding exercise'.
For Prelims
- ICHI: The WHO's International Classification of Health Interventions — a global standard to code medical/health procedures (a sibling of the disease classification, ICD).
- ICD-11 TM2: The WHO's ICD-11 added a Traditional Medicine chapter (Module 2) covering Ayurveda/Siddha/Unani — a landmark for global recognition of AYUSH.
- AYUSH: Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy — India's traditional/alternative medicine systems, under a dedicated Ministry.
- CCRAS / NIIMH: The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences and the National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage (a WHO Collaborating Centre) — the research bodies leading this.
- Standardisation & UHC: Coding traditional therapies enables insurance, research, interoperability and universal health coverage integration.
- Soft power: Global recognition of AYUSH advances India's cultural/knowledge soft power (alongside International Yoga Day).
For UPSC: Anchor this in traditional medicine's global integration — standardising Ayurveda/Siddha/Unani for the WHO's ICHI (building on ICD-11's traditional-medicine module) to enable interoperability, insurance and UHC. Link AYUSH, the WHO/ICD-11 recognition, evidence-based validation, and traditional medicine as soft power and a healthcare complement.
What it is NOT: This is a technical workshop to build coding inputs, not WHO adoption or a claim of clinical equivalence. It standardises how ASU interventions are classified for global systems; it does not by itself validate efficacy — that requires separate evidence.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS2.13 · Linkage L1
Anchor
Mainstreaming traditional medicine — standardising Ayurveda/Siddha/Unani for global health-classification and universal health coverage.
Substantiation (data)
Ayush workshop on the WHO's ICHI framework: NHIC codes for ASU systems via CCRAS/NIIMH (a WHO Collaborating Centre); repository of hundreds of ASU therapies/procedures; builds on ICD-11's traditional-medicine module.
Exemplification
Coded ASU therapies enabling insurance, research and interoperability; ICD-11 TM2 as the precedent for global AYUSH recognition.
Problematisation
Standardising diverse traditional systems, ensuring evidence-based validation, and avoiding over-claiming efficacy are real challenges.
Way-forward
Build robust codes and evidence, integrate with digital health (ABDM) and insurance, and pursue WHO adoption to mainstream AYUSH responsibly.
Position
Government stance: evidence-based global integration of India's traditional medicine within digital health and UHC.
Deploys into: Development and management of the health sector (GS2.13 — AYUSH/traditional medicine) · the WHO's ICHI/ICD-11 traditional-medicine framework, CCRAS/NIIMH, and UHC · traditional medicine as soft power and a healthcare complement.
AYUSH · 2026-07-13 · PRID 2284338 · PIB source ↗