The SCO Forum on Traditional Medicine was held in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, on 26-28 June 2024. It was organised by the Chinese SCO Committee for Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation and the People's Government of the Jiangxi Province.
The event was attended by senior officials from the Jiangxi Province and the Chinese SCO Committee, as well as heads of agencies and high representatives responsible for healthcare from SCO member states, observer countries and dialogue partners.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony, SCO Deputy Secretary General Nuran Niyazaliyev provided an overview of healthcare cooperation among the SCO countries. He mentioned the results of a recent meeting of healthcare ministers, held in Astana on 14 March 2024, and the first meeting of the SCO Expert Working Group on Traditional Medicine, which was held on 23 November 2023 via videoconference.
Nuran Niyazaliyev said, in part, that the SCO Forum on Traditional Medicine is held regularly as part of the initiative proposed by President of China Xi Jinping at the SCO Heads of State Council meeting in Bishkek in June 2019. Several years after its inception, the forum has become a popular and effective platform where experts from many countries can present the advantages of traditional medicine, share their practical experience, and discuss its further development within the SCO, including its integration into the healthcare system and the standardisation of the relevant legal framework.