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About the TCIM Americas Network

The Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine Network for the Americas (TCIM Americas Network) is a collaborative initiative, created with the objective of interconnecting several stakeholders involved in the formulation of policies, regulation, training, promotion, practice, use and research of TCIM in the Americas. The aim is to develop a common agenda and advance in the integration of TCIM in healthcare systems and services according to each national context.

The TCIM Americas Network is an inclusive, horizontal-governance initiative, currently gathering several organizations from 15 countries of the Americas, and continuously growing. The TCIM Americas Network was established in June 2017 by a group of delegates in the Regional Meeting “Advancing Towards Universal Health: Contributions of Traditional and Complementary Medicine”, in Managua, Nicaragua (click here to know more about the event).

Since its establishment, the TCIM Americas Network took over the management of the Virtual Health Library on Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine (VHL TCIM). This Network is responsible for the content and development of the portal, and also, of the specialized TCIM database, with the technical support from BIREME/PAHO/WHO.

Mission
The TCIM Americas Network is a “network of networks” that gathers together institutions and organizations which formulate policies, regulate, train health professionals, carry out research, develop programs, and educate the general public about the Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine, (TCIM) and related health practices. Through collaboration and knowledge management, the Network seeks to support decision-making in health, strengthen the capacities of professionals and managers in TCIM, including research, to contribute to the well-being of people, and the development to systems of health more inclusive and sustainable, to advance towards Universal Health.

Vision

To be a global reference in network management to enhance the contribution of the MTCI to the well-being of people, and to the sustainability of health systems, through informed decision making, access to information and collaboration between health authorities, the academy, indigenous and/ or Afro-descendant organizations, professional associations, service providers, among others.

Mechanisms of collaboration

The TCIM Americas Network has members in the following categories:

Health authorities and regulatory agencies

Academia (professional training programs in TCIM, research groups)

Indigenous and/or Afro-descendant organizations

Professional associations at TCIM

National or international networks

Providers of health care services and public health programs

NGOs that act in MTCI

Objectives

To establish cooperation ties among all stakeholders in countries of the Americas for the development of the different aspects of TCIM: development of public policies, regulation (of practices, products, and practitioners), training of health professionals, research, health education, and the provision of healthcare services.
To compile and systematize technical, scientific, regulatory and public policy information, in TCIM area in the Americas, throughout a specialized database and the portal of the VHL TCIM, as well as the collaboration among stakeholders at regional levels.
To manage the VHL TCIM, as a meeting point of several stakeholders who work in TCIM in the Americas, with the purpose of developing a regional outlook about the different aspects of TCIM, facilitating the exchange of experiences, facilitating access to scientific, technical and health education information, supporting the strengthening of capabilities and visibility of good practices.
To promote collaborative research in TCIM in the Americas
To encourage, in a participatory way, the rescue of ancestral knowledge, including traditional indigenous medicine, Afro-descendant medicine and the different medical systems from other ethnical diversities.
To promote the worldwide visibility of public policies, models of integration and implementation of the TCIM in health systems, as well as the conceptual developments, knowledge, and practices of traditional medicine, and research in TCIM developed in the Americas.
To support decision-making processes for TCIM integration to healthcare systems and services in the Americas, according to each national context, following the recommendations of the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy (2014-2023).

Members

The TCIM Americas Network is in process of consolidation. With less than a year of operation, it has participating institutions from 15 countries, as well as associated international and extra-regional collaboration networks.

The following institutions/organizations actively take part in the TCIM Americas Network:

Argentina

Integrative Medicine team, Garrahan Pediatrics Hospital
Fundación de Salud Ayurveda Prema
Department of Homeopathy, University of Maimonides
SAMH. Argentine Society of Homeopathic Medicine

Bolivia

Ministry of Health
Institute of Pharmacobiochemical Research, University of San Andres

Brazil

National Coordination of Integrative and Complementary Practices (PICS); Ministry of Health Care / Ministry of Public Health
Special Secretary for Indigenous Health, Ministry of Health
Consórcio Acadêmico Brasileiro de Saúde Integrativa
The network of Social Actors in Comprehensive and Complementary Practices in Health -REDEPICS
Paulista Homeopathic Association
Instituto Aggeu Magalhães- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz de Pernambuco
Virtual Health Library in Homeopathy- BVS Homeopatia -HOMEOINDEX

Chile

Department of Pharmaceutical Policies and Regulations, Health Providers and Complementary Medicines – Division of Healthy Public Policies and Promotion (DIPOL), Secretary of Public Health, Ministry of Health
Department of Health and Indigenous Peoples and Interculturality, Ministry of Health

Colombia

BVS Colombia
Workgroup on Alternative Medicine and Complementary Therapies, Ministry of Health and Social Protection
Nueva Granada Militar University
Master in Alternative Medicine, National University of Colombia
Juan N Corpas University Foundation
Luis G Paez University Foundation
The academic research team “Health, medical knowledge, and society”. Externado University of Colombia
Center for Intercultural Medical Studies CEMI. University of Rosario

Cuba

Provincial Division of Public Health of Havana, Department of Natural and Traditional Medicine
Program of Natural and Traditional Medicine, Ministry of Public Health
Infomed
National School of Public Health
Cuban Society of Bioenergetic Medicine
National Center for Clinical Trials Coordinator (CENCEC)
Center for the State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED)

Equador

Nacional Division of Intercultural Health, Ministry of Health
AEMEMI Ecuatorian Association of experts physicians on integrative medicine

Guatemala

General Division of Research, University of San Carlos of Guatemala

Mexico

Traditional Medicine and Intercultural Development Division, Ministry of Health
National School of Medicine and Homeopathy, Polytechnic National Institute (IPN)
Master in Homeopathy and Master in Acupuncture, Polytechnic National Institute (IPN)
Homeopathic National Hospital

Nicaragua

Institute of Natural Medicine and Complementary Therapies (IMNTC), Ministry of Health

Paraguay

Universidad Nacional de Asunción

Peru

Complementary Medicine Management, Social Security of Peru, EsSalud
Red BVS Perú
Comité Medicina Tradicional, Alternativa, y Complementaria- Colegio Médico del Perú

United States

Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine-JACM
Integrative, Complementary and Traditional Health Practices Section of the American Public Health Association-ICTHP- APHA
Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine- AIHM
Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health- ACIH

International Network

Network for the Ibero-American Integration of Medical Research in Homeopathy (REDIMEH)
TRAMIL Network