3rd World Congress on Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine - 3rd WCTCIM

The 3rd World Congress on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (WCTCIM 2025), held October 15-18, 2025, in Rio de Janeiro, marked a watershed moment for global TCIM policy and research. Organized by the Brazilian Academic Consortium for Integrative Health (CABSIN), the International Society for Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine Research (ISCMR), and the European Society of Integrative Medicine (ESIM), the congress aligned directly with the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025-2034, adopted at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly. The congress brought together 70 countries in-person, receiving 861 submissions with 664 unique abstracts accepted through rigorous peer review. This robust scientific output demonstrates the field's maturity: 60.8% research abstracts signal commitment to evidence generation, while 24.7% evidence syntheses and 17.5% clinical trials reflect alignment with evidence-based medicine standards. Notably, 64.2% of research focused on public health contributions and healthcare system integration, addressing WHO's recognition that TCIM serves 80% of the world's population as primary or preferred healthcare. A statement from WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus underscored traditional medicine's role in improving health equity and resilience, highlighting WHO's commitment through the Global Traditional Medicine Centre. As the first major TCIM congress in Latin America, the event emphasized knowledge diversity, planetary health, and sustainable health systems, fostering formation of the Global Alliance of Academic Consortia and Research Institutions in Integrative Health. By bridging traditional wisdom with rigorous scientific inquiry, WCTCIM 2025 advanced translation of evidence into policy, supporting universal health coverage and health-related Sustainable Development Goals.