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Generic image: Marion Debus, oncology (Photo: Medical Section at the Goetheanum)
Generic image: Marion Debus, oncology (Photo: Medical Section at the Goetheanum)

Press release -

WHO publishes training standards for Anthroposophic Medicine >>> WHO documentation available online

Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 4 April 2023

Since 2014 the WHO has worked towards integrating traditional, complementary and integrative medical approaches worldwide into healthcare systems. After Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, the organization now also published training standards for Anthroposophic Medicine that will have global validity.

The WHO aims for quality assurance in traditional, complementary and integrative medicine. In 2017 it accordingly started assessing, based on WHO criteria, the training standards of Anthroposophic in a rigorous international peer review process. “The outcome of this process can give orientation to policy makers, healthcare professionals and training institutions,” explains Dr Kim Sungchol, head of the WHO Department of Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine, in the recently published ‘WHO Benchmarks for Training in Anthroposophic Medicine’.

“The training standards recently published by the WHO are fully in accordance with the training guidelines used in Anthroposophic Medicine today,” says Dr Matthias Girke, head of the Goetheanum‘s Medical Section. Because Anthroposophic Medicine is interdisciplinary, these benchmarks apply to physicians, nurses, therapists, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. The WHO document also includes a glossary of central technical terms in Anthroposophic Medicine.

Dr Thomas Breitkreuz, president of the International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations (IVAA), says this is “an important step towards integrating Anthroposophic Medicine into national healthcare systems”, adding that “we welcome these WHO standards and are ready to work with any national healthcare authority in order to incorporate them into professional training and development.”

(1739 characters/SJ; English by Margot M. Saar)

Online Launch Symposium (in English) 12 April 2023, 2 pm CEST, organized by the International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations, the Medical Section at the Goetheanum and the Confederation of Anthroposophic Medicine in Germany (Dachverband Anthroposophische Medizin in Deutschland, DAMiD)

Contact person Ariane Totzke

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The Goetheanum is the headquarters for the School of Spiritual Science and the General Anthroposophical Society. The School of Spiritual Science with its eleven sections is active worldwide in research, development, teaching, and the practical implementation of its research findings and is supported by the Anthroposophical Society.

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Sebastian Jüngel

Sebastian Jüngel

Press contact Communications Coordinator +41 61 706 44 63

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