In General Guidelines for Methodologies on Research and Evaluation of Traditional Medicine, published in 2000 by the World Health Organization (WHO), complementary and alternative medicine were defined as a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country's own tradition and are not integrated into the dominant health care system.
I Generelle retningslinjer for metodologi i undersøgelser og evaluering af traditionel medicin, udgivet i 2000 af World Health Organization (WHO), blev komplementær og alternativ behandling defineret som et bredt sæt af sundhedspraksisser der ikke er en del af landets egen tradition og ikke er integreret i det dominerende sundhedssystem.