The World Health Organization (WHO) has for the first time recognized the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for treatments.

The WHO approved the latest version of its International Classification of Diseases (ICD) which includes a chapter about traditional medicines on Saturday.

A doctor prepares traditional Chinese medicines for the patients at People's Hospital of Cangzhou, Hebei Province, May 26, 2019. [Photo: IC]

The 11th version of the ICD was approved during the 72nd of World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

The traditional medicines from across the world will be included for the first time in the ICD-11. This includes those originated in ancient China and are still widely used in China, Japan, South Korea and other countries.

The ICD is an authoritative and basic standard in the world's healthcare realm and has been revised 10 times until 2007.

The making of ICD-11 received funding and technical support from China, which organized the nation's leading TCM experts to come up with schemes for the revision.