the participants , governmental representatives , universities , related institutions and the civil society , heralding from more than 20 countries of europe , asia and america , met in the city of lima , peru during the world summit for harmonization of tacm , organized by the peruvian medical association ( cmp ) . following a number of presentations and deliberations in different aspects , features and subjects of tacm , with the objective of informing governmental authorities and the global scientific community the group decided to summarize the conclusions of the meeting in the following  declaration of lima. that , traditional medicine is used by a great part of the world population , and it is accepted that the development of new therapeutic alternatives based on traditional medicine knowledge are needed , then , it is necessary to look for the harmonization of both conventional and traditional medicine approaches , with the purpose of improving public health worldwide;that , in the last decades , the practice and use of tacm has increased exponentially , having been recognized officially by the who as a form of medicine extensively used by the world population and with great possibilities of offering cost - effective alternatives for public health;that , the indiscriminate , irresponsible and unregulated use of diverse alternative and complementary therapeutic methods may lead to public - health risks and on the other hand , may also discredit an ancestral form of medicine with demonstrated effectiveness and relevance , when adequately used;that , tacm requires greater consensus in its organization , investigation , configuration and regulation and that it is necessary to appropriately integrate these aspects within the health care sector , involving the general population and urging the governments to be actively involved and change policies and strategies to improve health care;that , the benefits of the current health care systems , mainly based on conventional ( western ) medicine , only reach a limited percentage of the population and since the resources assigned by the governments , especially in developing countries , are insufficient to cover health care expenses , it is necessary to harmonize and integrate both systems of medicine with their respective strengths : tacm in the promotion of healthy life styles , disease prevention and low - cost therapeutic interventions directed to diseases or conditions of low complexity , and conventional medicine in the solution of acute problems or diseases of higher complexity . that , traditional medicine is used by a great part of the world population , and it is accepted that the development of new therapeutic alternatives based on traditional medicine knowledge are needed , then , it is necessary to look for the harmonization of both conventional and traditional medicine approaches , with the purpose of improving public health worldwide ; that , in the last decades , the practice and use of tacm has increased exponentially , having been recognized officially by the who as a form of medicine extensively used by the world population and with great possibilities of offering cost - effective alternatives for public health ; that , the indiscriminate , irresponsible and unregulated use of diverse alternative and complementary therapeutic methods may lead to public - health risks and on the other hand , may also discredit an ancestral form of medicine with demonstrated effectiveness and relevance , when adequately used ; that , tacm requires greater consensus in its organization , investigation , configuration and regulation and that it is necessary to appropriately integrate these aspects within the health care sector , involving the general population and urging the governments to be actively involved and change policies and strategies to improve health care ; that , the benefits of the current health care systems , mainly based on conventional ( western ) medicine , only reach a limited percentage of the population and since the resources assigned by the governments , especially in developing countries , are insufficient to cover health care expenses , it is necessary to harmonize and integrate both systems of medicine with their respective strengths : tacm in the promotion of healthy life styles , disease prevention and low - cost therapeutic interventions directed to diseases or conditions of low complexity , and conventional medicine in the solution of acute problems or diseases of higher complexity . it is recommended : 
 to acknowledge the existence of different models and medical systems and address the importance of studying their cosmo vision , especially in the case of traditional medicine that should be better studied , investigated , valued , respected and promoted;to increase participation of all sectors in society . in health care , it is utterly important to have the participation of the government , citizens and health care communities , and all should actively contribute to the social process of health  disease;to acknowledge the existence of different health and health - care paradigms that , when articulated or joined in their common characteristics will allow a better understanding of the human being and the process of health disease;to promote the articulation within the official systems of public health in each country , of tacm systems in order to improve the quality of life of their population , particularly because of the widespread use of tacm worldwide;to urge the governments to assign greater resources and technical support for the expansion of their national systems of health , in order to integrate tacm and obtain a unique , cost - effective , population - based health care system;to promote the development and harmonization of the directives necessary for the implementation of the integration and articulation of tacm in each country , considering , formation of human resources , improvement in quality control and safety of products as well as increasing funds for research and endorsement;to sensitize and spread tacm knowledge among different sectors : health care managers , community , research and academic institutions and health professionals , through a variety of activities such as forums , symposiums , congresses and workshops ; as well as to share experiences with countries around the world through exchange networks;to urge universities and other academic institutions to include in its undergraduate and graduate curriculum the teaching of tacm and the validation of its knowledge and practices through research and pertinent activities;to be permanently alert , so that traditional knowledge and therapeutic natural resources are not the object of illegal appropriation , biopiracy or patent traffic , and to stimulate their recognition as a national patrimony and its fair economic value to the communities that use and preserve them;to promote that the processes of management , development , systematization and education of traditional medicine are carried out by those having recognition of their communities , supported by the government , the universities and the civil society . in that sense , respect to the environment , to the tangible and intangible resources of traditional medicine , to the traditional knowledge and to its practitioners should be promoted;to develop and promote new approaches and methods of investigation and to implement strategies to obtain financial resources and train professionals that will contribute to the research , development and implementation of tacm;to promote the adequate , responsible and ethical use of tacm , avoiding illegal or fraudulent use and promote the dialogue between both conventional medicine and tacm practitioners in order to exchange knowledge and improve health care;to guarantee the continuity of similar tacm world summits . an agreement was reached to organize and held biannual meetings in countries from different continents , designating brazil as the venue for the next tacm world summit to be held in 2009 . an effort will be made to increase participation of government , academic and research institutions as well as regulators , scientists and practitioners from all over the world;to design adequate mechanisms that allow the diffusion , distribution , follow - up , evaluation and accomplishment of the recommendations of the  declaration of lima. to acknowledge the existence of different models and medical systems and address the importance of studying their cosmo vision , especially in the case of traditional medicine that should be better studied , investigated , valued , respected and promoted ; to increase participation of all sectors in society . in health care , it is utterly important to have the participation of the government , citizens and health care communities , and all should actively contribute to the social process of health  disease ; to acknowledge the existence of different health and health - care paradigms that , when articulated or joined in their common characteristics will allow a better understanding of the human being and the process of health  disease ; to promote the articulation within the official systems of public health in each country , of tacm systems in order to improve the quality of life of their population , particularly because of the widespread use of tacm worldwide ; to urge the governments to assign greater resources and technical support for the expansion of their national systems of health , in order to integrate tacm and obtain a unique , cost - effective , population - based health care system ; to promote the development and harmonization of the directives necessary for the implementation of the integration and articulation of tacm in each country , considering , formation of human resources , improvement in quality control and safety of products as well as increasing funds for research and endorsement ; to sensitize and spread tacm knowledge among different sectors : health care managers , community , research and academic institutions and health professionals , through a variety of activities such as forums , symposiums , congresses and workshops ; as well as to share experiences with countries around the world through exchange networks ; to urge universities and other academic institutions to include in its undergraduate and graduate curriculum the teaching of tacm and the validation of its knowledge and practices through research and pertinent activities ; to be permanently alert , so that traditional knowledge and therapeutic natural resources are not the object of illegal appropriation , biopiracy or patent traffic , and to stimulate their recognition as a national patrimony and its fair economic value to the communities that use and preserve them ; to promote that the processes of management , development , systematization and education of traditional medicine are carried out by those having recognition of their communities , supported by the government , the universities and the civil society . in that sense , respect to the environment , to the tangible and intangible resources of traditional medicine , to the traditional knowledge and to its practitioners should be promoted ; to develop and promote new approaches and methods of investigation and to implement strategies to obtain financial resources and train professionals that will contribute to the research , development and implementation of tacm ; to promote the adequate , responsible and ethical use of tacm , avoiding illegal or fraudulent use and promote the dialogue between both conventional medicine and tacm practitioners in order to exchange knowledge and improve health care ; to guarantee the continuity of similar tacm world summits . an agreement was reached to organize and held biannual meetings in countries from different continents , designating brazil as the venue for the next tacm world summit to be held in 2009 . an effort will be made to increase participation of government , academic and research institutions as well as regulators , scientists and practitioners from all over the world ; to design adequate mechanisms that allow the diffusion , distribution , follow - up , evaluation and accomplishment of the recommendations of the  declaration of lima. the present declaration is signed , to substantiate the agreement reached by citizens interested in improving the health of the world population and the commitment to work in order that each point of this declaration is considered and implemented in the countries of the three continents represented . that , traditional medicine is used by a great part of the world population , and it is accepted that the development of new therapeutic alternatives based on traditional medicine knowledge are needed , then , it is necessary to look for the harmonization of both conventional and traditional medicine approaches , with the purpose of improving public health worldwide;that , in the last decades , the practice and use of tacm has increased exponentially , having been recognized officially by the who as a form of medicine extensively used by the world population and with great possibilities of offering cost - effective alternatives for public health;that , the indiscriminate , irresponsible and unregulated use of diverse alternative and complementary therapeutic methods may lead to public - health risks and on the other hand , may also discredit an ancestral form of medicine with demonstrated effectiveness and relevance , when adequately used;that , tacm requires greater consensus in its organization , investigation , configuration and regulation and that it is necessary to appropriately integrate these aspects within the health care sector , involving the general population and urging the governments to be actively involved and change policies and strategies to improve health care;that , the benefits of the current health care systems , mainly based on conventional ( western ) medicine , only reach a limited percentage of the population and since the resources assigned by the governments , especially in developing countries , are insufficient to cover health care expenses , it is necessary to harmonize and integrate both systems of medicine with their respective strengths : tacm in the promotion of healthy life styles , disease prevention and low - cost therapeutic interventions directed to diseases or conditions of low complexity , and conventional medicine in the solution of acute problems or diseases of higher complexity . that , traditional medicine is used by a great part of the world population , and it is accepted that the development of new therapeutic alternatives based on traditional medicine knowledge are needed , then , it is necessary to look for the harmonization of both conventional and traditional medicine approaches , with the purpose of improving public health worldwide ; that , in the last decades , the practice and use of tacm has increased exponentially , having been recognized officially by the who as a form of medicine extensively used by the world population and with great possibilities of offering cost - effective alternatives for public health ; that , the indiscriminate , irresponsible and unregulated use of diverse alternative and complementary therapeutic methods may lead to public - health risks and on the other hand , may also discredit an ancestral form of medicine with demonstrated effectiveness and relevance , when adequately used ; that , tacm requires greater consensus in its organization , investigation , configuration and regulation and that it is necessary to appropriately integrate these aspects within the health care sector , involving the general population and urging the governments to be actively involved and change policies and strategies to improve health care ; that , the benefits of the current health care systems , mainly based on conventional ( western ) medicine , only reach a limited percentage of the population and since the resources assigned by the governments , especially in developing countries , are insufficient to cover health care expenses , it is necessary to harmonize and integrate both systems of medicine with their respective strengths : tacm in the promotion of healthy life styles , disease prevention and low - cost therapeutic interventions directed to diseases or conditions of low complexity , and conventional medicine in the solution of acute problems or diseases of higher complexity . it is recommended : 
 to acknowledge the existence of different models and medical systems and address the importance of studying their cosmo vision , especially in the case of traditional medicine that should be better studied , investigated , valued , respected and promoted;to increase participation of all sectors in society . in health care , it is utterly important to have the participation of the government , citizens and health care communities , and all should actively contribute to the social process of health disease;to acknowledge the existence of different health and health - care paradigms that , when articulated or joined in their common characteristics will allow a better understanding of the human being and the process of health disease;to promote the articulation within the official systems of public health in each country , of tacm systems in order to improve the quality of life of their population , particularly because of the widespread use of tacm worldwide;to urge the governments to assign greater resources and technical support for the expansion of their national systems of health , in order to integrate tacm and obtain a unique , cost - effective , population - based health care system;to promote the development and harmonization of the directives necessary for the implementation of the integration and articulation of tacm in each country , considering , formation of human resources , improvement in quality control and safety of products as well as increasing funds for research and endorsement;to sensitize and spread tacm knowledge among different sectors : health care managers , community , research and academic institutions and health professionals , through a variety of activities such as forums , symposiums , congresses and workshops ; as well as to share experiences with countries around the world through exchange networks;to urge universities and other academic institutions to include in its undergraduate and graduate curriculum the teaching of tacm and the validation of its knowledge and practices through research and pertinent activities;to be permanently alert , so that traditional knowledge and therapeutic natural resources are not the object of illegal appropriation , biopiracy or patent traffic , and to stimulate their recognition as a national patrimony and its fair economic value to the communities that use and preserve them;to promote that the processes of management , development , systematization and education of traditional medicine are carried out by those having recognition of their communities , supported by the government , the universities and the civil society . in that sense , respect to the environment , to the tangible and intangible resources of traditional medicine , to the traditional knowledge and to its practitioners should be promoted;to develop and promote new approaches and methods of investigation and to implement strategies to obtain financial resources and train professionals that will contribute to the research , development and implementation of tacm;to promote the adequate , responsible and ethical use of tacm , avoiding illegal or fraudulent use and promote the dialogue between both conventional medicine and tacm practitioners in order to exchange knowledge and improve health care;to guarantee the continuity of similar tacm world summits . an agreement was reached to organize and held biannual meetings in countries from different continents , designating brazil as the venue for the next tacm world summit to be held in 2009 . an effort will be made to increase participation of government , academic and research institutions as well as regulators , scientists and practitioners from all over the world;to design adequate mechanisms that allow the diffusion , distribution , follow - up , evaluation and accomplishment of the recommendations of the  declaration of lima. to acknowledge the existence of different models and medical systems and address the importance of studying their cosmo vision , especially in the case of traditional medicine that should be better studied , investigated , valued , respected and promoted ; to increase participation of all sectors in society . in health care , it is utterly important to have the participation of the government , citizens and health care communities , and all should actively contribute to the social process of health  disease ; to acknowledge the existence of different health and health - care paradigms that , when articulated or joined in their common characteristics will allow a better understanding of the human being and the process of health  disease ; to promote the articulation within the official systems of public health in each country , of tacm systems in order to improve the quality of life of their population , particularly because of the widespread use of tacm worldwide ; to urge the governments to assign greater resources and technical support for the expansion of their national systems of health , in order to integrate tacm and obtain a unique , cost - effective , population - based health care system ; to promote the development and harmonization of the directives necessary for the implementation of the integration and articulation of tacm in each country , considering , formation of human resources , improvement in quality control and safety of products as well as increasing funds for research and endorsement ; to sensitize and spread tacm knowledge among different sectors : health care managers , community , research and academic institutions and health professionals , through a variety of activities such as forums , symposiums , congresses and workshops ; as well as to share experiences with countries around the world through exchange networks ; to urge universities and other academic institutions to include in its undergraduate and graduate curriculum the teaching of tacm and the validation of its knowledge and practices through research and pertinent activities ; to be permanently alert , so that traditional knowledge and therapeutic natural resources are not the object of illegal appropriation , biopiracy or patent traffic , and to stimulate their recognition as a national patrimony and its fair economic value to the communities that use and preserve them ; to promote that the processes of management , development , systematization and education of traditional medicine are carried out by those having recognition of their communities , supported by the government , the universities and the civil society . in that sense , respect to the environment , to the tangible and intangible resources of traditional medicine , to the traditional knowledge and to its practitioners should be promoted ; to develop and promote new approaches and methods of investigation and to implement strategies to obtain financial resources and train professionals that will contribute to the research , development and implementation of tacm ; to promote the adequate , responsible and ethical use of tacm , avoiding illegal or fraudulent use and promote the dialogue between both conventional medicine and tacm practitioners in order to exchange knowledge and improve health care ; to guarantee the continuity of similar tacm world summits . an agreement was reached to organize and held biannual meetings in countries from different continents , designating brazil as the venue for the next tacm world summit to be held in 2009 . an effort will be made to increase participation of government , academic and research institutions as well as regulators , scientists and practitioners from all over the world ; to design adequate mechanisms that allow the diffusion , distribution , follow - up , evaluation and accomplishment of the recommendations of the  declaration of lima. the present declaration is signed , to substantiate the agreement reached by citizens interested in improving the health of the world population and the commitment to work in order that each point of this declaration is considered and implemented in the countries of the three continents represented .
the world summit of harmonization on traditional , alternative and complementary medicine ( tacm ) was held in lima , peru , november 711 , 2007 , with almost 600 worldwide participants . 
 this meeting was organized by peruvian medical college , the institution that affiliates and authorizes all physicians to practice medicine in peru . 
 the meeting included seven sections starting with an overview on the current status of the tacm . 
 the second section included experiences from different countries on regulations and quality control in products and services used in the tacm . 
 the worldwide experience of education and training in tacm was a very important part of the meeting in which speakers from spain , germany , argentina , italy , brazil , cuba and peru shared their experience . 
 the meeting included topics on homeopathy , acupuncture , mind  body medicine , neural therapy , chiropraxis , among others . 
 two final sessions were related to the ways of linking traditional medicine to the national health systems in the latin america countries and also the association between bio - commerce and tacm including intellectual properties and bio - piracy .