WHO advances global harmonization of herbal medicine standards through expert meeting on the development of international herbal pharmacopoeia

Meeting in Hong Kong SAR (China) brought together experts to discuss harmonized global standards for herbal medicine

©WHO

Bringing together experts from all six WHO regions, the 5th WHO Expert Meeting on the Development of the International Herbal Pharmacopoeia (IHP) in Hong Kong SAR (China), on 16-18 June 2026, further advanced the global collaboration on the quality and safety of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine.

In the opening, WHO emphasized that the development of the IHP represents a key normative priority under the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 , responding directly to Member States’ need for strengthened regulatory standards, quality assurance and the development of internationally harmonized standards for herbal medicines. Experts highlighted that the IHP will support countries in ensuring safe, quality‑assured herbal medicines through the development of internationally harmonized pharmacopoeial standards grounded in existing scientific evidence and expert consensus.

The Director of Health of Hong Kong SAR underscored the importance of international collaboration in advancing traditional medicine, and reaffirmed the local government’s strong support for WHO’s work in this area, including hosting the meeting and supporting its successful implementation. The Chinese Medicine Regulatory Office of the Department of Health, as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine, together with the Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, Government of India, has been providing technical support to WHO in the development of the IHP, including drafting selected herbal medicine monographs and contributing to related technical work.

During the meeting, experts conducted technical discussions on draft monographs of prioritized herbal medicines and reviewed key general chapters covering core aspects of quality, safety and standardization, as well as biodiversity, traditional knowledge and sustainable use of herbal medicines. The discussions contributed to advancing consensus on the structure and content of the first volume of the WHO IHP.

In addition to its ongoing support for public health and herbal medicine standardization related to WHO initiatives, this meeting marked another important occasion demonstrating Hong Kong SAR’s continued support to WHO in advancing traditional medicine-related initiatives.