UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — 50 years ago: WHO to collaborate in Ayurvedic project

Q1. The new building of the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia, inaugurated in New Delhi in December 2025, was taken forward with which one of the following as the Government of India's nodal Union Ministry for engagement with the World Health Organization?

  • A. The Ministry of External Affairs, which handles India's relations with United Nations bodies
  • B. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, whose Union Minister led Member State representatives at the facility
  • C. The Ministry of Ayush, which is the nodal ministry for traditional medicine cooperation
  • D. The Ministry of Science and Technology, which houses India's biomedical research departments

Q2. The demarcation of the South-East Asia Region as one of WHO's six geographical regions was decided by which authority, and in which year?

  • A. The International Health Conference at New York, in 1946, while adopting the WHO Constitution
  • B. The WHO Executive Board, in 1951, while creating the Western Pacific Regional Office
  • C. The First World Health Assembly, in 1948, while delineating WHO's geographical regions
  • D. The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, in 1947, on the advice of its Technical Preparatory Committee

Q3. Pending completion of its permanent campus, the interim office of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre functions out of which single institution?

  • A. The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar, which is a WHO Collaborating Centre
  • B. The All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi, which is an autonomous institute of the Ministry of Ayush
  • C. The ICMR-National Institute of Traditional Medicine, Belagavi, which works on traditional-medicine research
  • D. The National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur, which is a deemed-to-be university under the Ministry of Ayush

Q4. India's apex body for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, set up in 1911, functioned at its inception under which name?

  • A. The Central Research Institute, established at Kasauli for vaccine research
  • B. The Indian Medical Research Board, constituted under the Indian Medical Service
  • C. The Indian Research Fund Association, funded by the Government of India
  • D. The Haffkine Institute, established at Bombay for plague research

Q5. The head of the Indian Council of Medical Research concurrently holds which one of the following posts in the Government of India?

  • A. Secretary, Department of Health Research
  • B. Secretary, Department of Biotechnology
  • C. Director General of Health Services
  • D. Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government

Q6. How many autonomous boards function under the supervision of the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine, constituted under the Act of 2020?

  • A. Two — one for Ayurveda and one for Unani, Siddha and Sowa-Rigpa
  • B. Three — for Ayurveda, for Unani/Siddha/Sowa-Rigpa, and for ethics and registration
  • C. Five — one for each recognised system of Indian medicine, including Homoeopathy
  • D. Four — including a medical assessment and rating board and an ethics and registration board

Q7. Under the National Ayush Mission, the category of States entitled to a 90:10 grant-in-aid pattern comprises which one of the following?

  • A. The North-Eastern States together with the three hilly States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir
  • B. All States whose per capita income is below the national average, along with all Union Territories without legislature
  • C. States that have notified a dedicated Directorate of Ayush and have contributed their full share in the preceding year
  • D. Aspirational districts' States as identified by NITI Aayog, together with the island Union Territories of the country

Q8. Consider the following: 1. Strengthening the evidence base for traditional, complementary and integrative medicine 2. Bolstering safety, quality and effectiveness through appropriate regulatory mechanisms 3. Facilitating the integration of traditional medicine into national health systems 4. Creating a binding international convention on patenting of traditional-knowledge remedies Which of the above is/are correctly identified as objectives of the WHO traditional medicine strategy 2025–2034?

  1. Strengthening the evidence base for traditional, complementary and integrative medicine
  2. Bolstering safety, quality and effectiveness through appropriate regulatory mechanisms
  3. Facilitating the integration of traditional medicine into national health systems
  4. Creating a binding international convention on patenting of traditional-knowledge remedies
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1, 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q9. Consider the following pairs relating to WHO's recent work on traditional medicine: 1. First WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine — Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 2023 2. Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine — Gandhinagar, Gujarat, December 2025 3. Consensus outcome of the second Global Summit — the Gujarat Declaration 4. WHO traditional medicine strategy 2025–2034 — adopted by the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly Which of the above pairs is/are NOT correctly matched?

  1. First WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine — Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 2023
  2. Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine — Gandhinagar, Gujarat, December 2025
  3. Consensus outcome of the second Global Summit — the Gujarat Declaration
  4. WHO traditional medicine strategy 2025–2034 — adopted by the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly
  • A. 1 and 4
  • B. 2 and 3
  • C. 3 only
  • D. 2, 3 and 4

Q10. Multicentre clinical research validating Ayurvedic management of rheumatoid arthritis in India has been carried out under the aegis of which apex research council?

  • A. The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences under the Ministry of Ayush
  • B. The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine under the Ministry of Ayush
  • C. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
  • D. The Department of Health Research under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Q11. World Health Day, observed on 7 April every year, commemorates precisely which event in WHO's history?

  • A. The adoption of the WHO Constitution at the International Health Conference held in New York
  • B. The date on which the Constitution of the World Health Organization entered into force
  • C. The opening of the First World Health Assembly at Geneva by the founding Member States
  • D. The date on which WHO was recognised as a specialised agency of the United Nations system