Gatha Global

GATHA – Global Alliance for Traditional Healers Advancement is a national platform dedicated to bringing together traditional healers, knowledge holders, researchers, academicians, AYUSH experts, legal and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) experts, biodiversity and Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) experts, policymakers, and other stakeholders to strengthen the recognition, preservation, documentation, and responsible advancement of India’s traditional healing heritage. India possesses a rich and diverse legacy of traditional healing knowledge that has been developed and transmitted through generations. Much of this knowledge continues to exist within communities and among traditional healers, often through oral traditions and practical experience. However, the absence of systematic documentation, limited scientific validation, inadequate awareness of IPR and benefit-sharing mechanisms, and changing social and environmental conditions pose significant challenges to its preservation and responsible transmission. The initiative seeks to place traditional healers and knowledge holders at the centre of the dialogue, recognizing their experience and contribution while creating meaningful connections with scientific institutions, universities, researchers, policymakers, and other relevant stakeholders. GATHA envisioned as a collaborative platform for documentation, preservation, protection, scientific validation, networking, and wider recognition of India’s traditional healing knowledge. Through dialogue, collaboration, responsible documentation, and knowledge-sharing, the initiative aims to contribute towards a stronger national ecosystem in which traditional healing knowledge is preserved with integrity, protected with appropriate mechanisms, studied responsibly, and advanced with the meaningful participation of its knowledge holders.