Legal Regulation of Relationships in the Field of Traditional Medicine: Global, Regional, and National Levels

The article analyzes the regulatory system that determines the functioning of the field of traditional medicine and the interaction of its participants. The study aims to identify its key characteristics and features. Attention is paid to the study of the international legal framework for regulating activities in the field of traditional medicine, including the right of integration associations in this area. The author emphasizes that at the global level, the foundations of regulatory regulation of relations in the field of traditional (traditional) medicine are reflected in the strategic documents of WHO, which determine the goals and objectives of regulation, as well as its key areas. The breadth of wording in WHO documents provides legislators of Member States with scope for introducing their own approaches to the legal regulation of relations in this area, outlined by lengthy meanings of strategies and resolutions. At the regional level, as well as within the framework of integration associations, the most developed segment of regulatory legal regulation in the field of traditional (traditional) medicine is the field of circulation of traditional medicines, while other aspects are not sufficiently regulated. Using comparative legal analysis, the experience of regulatory legal regulation of activities in the field of traditional medicine in certain foreign countries was investigated, including approaches to determining qualification requirements for persons engaged in traditional medicine and tools for monitoring their professional activities. It is indicated that the Russian Federation will have to rethink the current regulations on traditional medicine in the context of WHO initiatives to integrate traditional medicine into the health care system.

1. Korobko KI, Yudin EV. Legal regulation in the field of traditional medicine in the Russian Federation. Chelovek. Kul’tura. Obrazovanie [Human. Culture. Education]. 2017;4(26):88-96. (In Russ.).

2. Roth LG. Folk Medicine and Patient Rights. Electronic supplement to «Russian Juridical Journal». 2022;4:73-79. (In Russ.).

3. Singh S, Ernst E. No wallet, no life. Alternative medicine under investigation. Moscow: AST Publ.; 2017. (In Russ.).

4. Khabibova MM-Kh, Shikhalieva NM. Legal regulation of the Institute of Folk Medicine. Law and Management. 2022;10:237-240. (In Russ.).

5. Chapman AR. A «violations approach» for monitoring the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Human Rights Quarterly. 1996;18/1:23-66. (In Russ.).

6. Nkuna P, Makoaba T, Mongadi K. A new era for traditional healers: A step towards formalisation and regulation. Official website of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr. Available at: https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/news/publications/2024/Practice/Employment/employment-law-19-november-A-new-era-for-traditional-healers-A-step-towards-formalisation-and-regulation#:~:text=At%20a%20glance,in%20a%20legal%20grey%20area [Accessed 30.09.2025]. (In Russ.).