Despite advances in modern medicine such as gene therapy and stem cell research, traditional medicine (TM) is still widely used in most of the world. According to the WHO, 65–80% of the world’s healthcare practice involves the use of TM in some way. Today, TM has become an indispensable part of our health management. It has been well known that TM covers a wide array of therapies and practices (commonly referred to as complementary and alternative medicine) which vary from culture to culture and country to country. It is more important that TM differs from conventional medicine (CM) in both theory and practice. However, the research and development of almost all TM systems mostly follow the track that had been laid down by CM nowadays. It is clearly not appropriate for the future development of TM. Therefore, a well-structured strategy for research and development is instrumental to optimize the utilization of TM which reflects its superiority over CM in some ways. Now it is the time for us to start thinking about “Where is TM heading?” and “How should TM reach its destination?”

This special issue is dedicated to focusing on TM development strategy or policy, including the reflection in the status of TM. We are particularly interested in articles offering guidance in TM research and development. We invite any researchers from different disciplines and management agencies to contribute to this issue by sending in reviews as well as original research articles that will have a significant impact on the future development of TM. Your contribution is of great importance for the development of TM. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Current and prospective strategies of research and development in TM over the world
• Hypotheses and concepts/ideas regarding the future development of TMs based on their philosophical and cultural backgrounds
• Modern theory and scientific connotations of TM theory and practice
• Historical perspective of TM
• Novel animal model for the study of TM theory
• TM management and protection policy
• Development of TM research networks

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal’s Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/ecam/world/ according to the following timetable: