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HO 18
Memorandum submitted
by the European Committee for Homeopathic
Medicine
in Europe
The Use of Homeopathic Medicine in Europe: Its Licensing and Regulation.
1)
Introduction
1.1 Over the past 30-40 years homeopathy
has benefited from growing demand both from doctors and from the public in the
majority of the European countries. According to a survey by European
Commission order in 1996 three Europeans out of four know about homeopathy and
of these about 30 % use it for their health care. In the European Union there
are approximately 50,000 physicians who have taken a training course in
homeopathy. Many more doctors in Europe prescribe
homeopathic medicines without any homeopathic training: approximately 25-40 %
of the GPs from time to time, 6-8 % of them on a more regular basis.
1.2 Among the different forms
of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), in particular homeopathy has a
form of legal recognition in certain European countries, an organisational
structure at European level, self-regulatory mechanisms, and a certain level of
scientific credibility. Homeopathy is being
increasingly recognised as a potential asset to European health care.
Resolutions on CAM have been adopted by the European Parliament and the Council
of Europe, EU Directives oblige the Member States to register homeopathic
medicinal products, and homeopathic medicinal products are being included in
the European Pharmacopoeia.
Earlier this year the Swiss people in a
national referendum voted in favour of a constitutional article for
complementary medicine. Switzerland is the first country in Europe to set out
in the constitution, authority for the state and constituent states (cantons)
to take complementary medicine into consideration in the public health service.
On this constitutional basis, parliament and the
authorities have to admit doctors trained in anthroposophic medicine,
homeopathy, neural therapy, herbal medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine
into the obligatory public health insurance system, and create national
diplomas for CAM therapists without a full medical education.
2) Homeopathy and the
European Union
2.1 The European Parliament
has taken the position that homeopathy -as well as other branches of
non-conventional medicine-, should be recognised. Its resolution of 29 May 1997
(A4-0075/97) called on the European Commission
a. to launch a process of recognizing
non-conventional medicine and, to this end, to take the necessary steps to
encourage the establishment of appropriate committees;
b. to carry out a thorough study into the
safety, effectiveness, area of application and the complementary or alternative
nature of all non-conventional medicines and to draw up a comparative study of
the various national legal models to which non-conventional medical
practitioners are subject;
c. to make, in formulating European legislation
on non-conventional forms of medicine, a clear distinction between
non-conventional medicines which are 'complementary' in nature and those which
are 'alternative' medicines in the sense that they replace conventional
medicine;
and calls on the Council of Ministers after
completion of the preliminary work referred to above (at b.) to encourage the
development of research programmes in the field of non-conventional medicines
covering the individual and holistic approach, the preventive role and the
specific characteristics of the non-conventional medical disciplines;
Parliament undertakes to do likewise.
2.2 As to
homeopathy in veterinary medicine, the first steps of recognition have been
made. In July 1999 Council Regulation 1804/1999/EC was adopted, supplementing
Regulation 2092/91/EEC by establishing rules on organic production and
agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural
products and foodstuffs to include livestock production. This Regulation
stipulates that, when animals become sick or injured, they should be treated
immediately by giving preference to homeopathic or herbal medicinal products
and by limiting to a strict minimum the use of chemically-synthesised
allopathic medicinal products in order to guarantee the integrity of organic
production for consumers.
2.3
All EU Member States are obliged to register homeopathic medicines
pursuant to Directive 2001/82/EC (veterinary use) and 2001/83/EC (human use) -
amended by Directive 2004/28/EC and Directive 2004/27/EC respectively - on the
Community Code relating to medicinal products. Homeopathic medicines are
prepared in accordance with a homeopathic manufacturing procedure described in the
official pharmacopoeias currently used in the Member States, - the French,
German, and increasingly, the European Pharmacopoeia.
3)
Homeopathy and the Council of Europe
In 1999 the Council of Europe, in its Resolution 1206 (1999) on
non-conventional medicine (= Complementary and Alternative Medicine) called on
"member states to promote official recognition of these forms of medicine
in medical faculties and to encourage hospitals to use them". In addition,
the Council stated that "appropriate courses should be offered in
universities to train allopathic doctors in alternative and complementary forms
of treatment", and that "the best guarantee for patients lies in a
properly trained profession, which is aware of its limitations, has a system of
ethics and self-regulation and is also subject to outside control".
4) Homeopathy and national statutory regulations
4.1 Homeopathy is
recognised by law as a distinct medical therapy in Belgium (1999), Bulgaria
(2005), Hungary (1997), Latvia (1997), Portugal (2003), Romania (1981), and
Slovenia (2007). In some countries where the
government has delegated the tasks of authorisation, registration and
supervision of medical practitioners to the national medical associations, statutory regulation has been introduced by the national medical
associations, i.e. in Austria,
Germany, Romania and Switzerland. In Lithuania it was the national institute of
medico-legal affairs that regulated homeopathy. The national medical
associations in France and Italy have recognised homeopathy as a distinct
medical therapy and called on the government to provide the necessary
legislation.
4.2
In Latvia the medical council/chamber has recognised homeopathy as a
medical specialty. In the following countries as an additional qualification:
Austria, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania (almost a subspecialty), Romania,
Switzerland (subspecialty for GPs, paediatricians and internists).
5)
Homeopathy teaching at universities
5.1 Familiarisation
courses about homeopathy are provided in the medical undergraduate curriculum
as a part of a course on Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Hungary (one
university), Italy and the Netherlands; as a separate subject in Bulgaria,
Germany and Romania. These
familiarisation courses are optional for medical students in Germany, Hungary
(one university), Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland (some universities),
obligatory in Latvia and Romania.
Postgraduate training courses in homeopathy
for doctors are provided at universities in Bulgaria, Germany, France, Italy,
Lithuania and Spain, in other countries at private teaching centres.
5.2
A lectureship specifically for homeopathy exists only in the Netherlands
(Amsterdam), a professorial chair of CAM including homeopathy in Hungary (Pécs)
and Switzerland (Bern).
6)
Homeopathy provision in hospitals
Several hospitals in continental Europe, in their
out-patient departments, currently provide homeopathic treatment by physicians,
i.e. in Austria (seven), France (two), Germany (five), Spain (two), Italy (some).
Dr Ton Nicolai, President of the
European Committee for Homeopathy
November
2009
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