On 4 November 2005 the Association of Greek Homeopaths, in cooperation with the European Central Council of Homeopaths (ECCH), organised a lecture at the Ionic Centre in Plaka on “The recognition and practice of homeopathy in Europe”, with speakers Petter Viksveen, President of the ECCH, and Stephen Gordon, Secretary General of the ECCH.
The ECCH was founded in 1990 and represents homeopaths in Europe, focusing its representative activities within Europe and especially within the European Union. So far it is represented by 27 associations from 23 countries: Armenia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Switzerland, Greece, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, FYROM, Serbia and Montenegro, Sweden and Finland.
The ECCH is the only complementary and alternative medicine organisation that holds consultative status as a non-governmental organisation with the Council of Europe, and it is an associate member of the European Public Health Alliance. Its vision is to offer the benefits of high-quality homeopathic treatment to all Europeans, and it is committed to continuing this work with its member associations in order to ensure uniformly high standards for the profession of homeopath in Europe. In addition, to contribute to the development and harmonisation of the homeopathic profession in Europe, it has produced a number of guidelines and policy documents.
In his introductory speech Gerasimos Stouraitis, founder of the Hippocratic Centre of Classical Homeopathy and President of the Association of Greek Homeopaths (SOE), said among other things:
“When in 1997 the European Parliament issued resolution A4-0075/97 on the recognition of homeopathy, many of us said: ‘At last, this important public health issue will be settled, so that neither will some claim that only they can practise homeopathy, nor will others present themselves as homeopaths without being so.’
What did this resolution say, among other things? It said that homeopathy, evidently independent of conventional medicine, should receive attention in the member states of the European Union that have not yet recognised it, and it urged these member states to set up committees, evidently with the participation of all those concerned, so that the process of recognition could begin.
Portugal recognised the practice of homeopathy by non-doctors as early as October 2003, and other states will soon follow, besides those that recognised it long ago. What is happening in Greece? As usual, nothing! Nothing, despite the SOE’s repeated approaches to the competent ministry. Think, too, how much the creation of a new profession would reduce unemployment! Let this at least reach the ears of our politicians!”
He also stressed that:
“The practice of homeopathy is preceded by proper and complete training in it. The ECCH, the European Council of Classical Homeopathy, has drawn up a complete curriculum, so that in the European Union the training of homeopaths is equally complete and sound in all member states, because this is what the interest of the health of the citizens who choose homeopathy demands.”
Petter Viksveen, President of the ECCH, spoke about the ECCH in general and specifically about the practice and recognition of homeopathy in Europe.
Among other things, he informed the audience of what various European institutions, such as the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the World Health Organization (WHO), say. Specifically, he said the following:
“In 1999 the Council of Europe, in its resolution on non-conventional therapies, stated that:
• Homeopathy is one of the four best-established CAM (CAM = complementary and alternative medicine) therapies in Europe
• It should be possible for the various forms of medicine to coexist and complement each other
• Alternative or complementary forms of medicine may be practised by doctors of conventional medicine as well as by any well-trained practitioner of non-conventional medicine (the patient will be able to consult one or the other, either on referral by his or her family doctor or of his or her own free will), provided that ethical principles prevail.
It should be stressed here that the member associations of the ECCH represent homeopaths, or homeopaths and doctors who practise homeopathy. Homeopaths are professionals who have received complete training and practical experience in homeopathy as such, that is, as a distinct clinical discipline. This training includes in-depth knowledge and understanding of the theory and practice of homeopathy, as well as appropriate conventional medical training.
Homeopathic doctors are doctors who have also studied homeopathy as postgraduate training, after their standard medical studies. Compared with the large number of doctors, the number of doctors who practise homeopathy is relatively small. This fact partly explains why the number of homeopaths in Europe and in the rest of the world has increased so quickly. The growing demand for homeopathy from patients cannot be met adequately by the doctors who practise it alone.
In 1997 the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the European Union to begin the process of recognising non-conventional forms of medicine after the necessary research has been carried out, and also to develop research programmes on the safety and effectiveness of these medicines.
In May 2002 the WHO issued a policy document on traditional/complementary and alternative medicine (T/CAM). A number of policy recommendations were made regarding T/CAM practitioners. Among other things, national governments should:
• Establish registers and licences to practise for those who provide them
• Recognise the role of T/CAM providers in health care
• Upgrade the skills of T/CAM providers
• Develop training guidelines for the most frequently used T/CAM therapies
• Strengthen and increase the organisation of T/CAM providers
• Strengthen cooperation between T/CAM providers and other health professionals.
As the Council of Europe recommended, patients in most European countries can consult either doctors who practise CAM therapies or well-trained practitioners of non-conventional therapies such as homeopathy.”
In his talk he also referred to the state of the practice and recognition of homeopathy in various European countries, such as Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Germany. Specifically, he said:
“The Norwegian Homeopathic Association, which is a member of the ECCH, was founded in 1930. The association consists mainly of homeopaths and a few homeopathic doctors. It is a fact, however, that in Norway there is no separate association for doctors who practise homeopathy. Statistical surveys have shown that 37% of the country’s total population has used homeopathy at some point, and its use is increasing steadily. A new law that came into force on 1 January 2004 provides the legal framework for the practice of homeopathy and other forms of complementary and alternative therapy. The purpose of this law is to contribute to the safety of patients who seek or receive alternative treatment and to regulate the right to practise such treatment. The new law also established the state register of CAM practitioners. Because the Norwegian Homeopathic Association has established standards that met the state standards of this new register, homeopaths were the first, and at present the only, practitioners to be admitted to it. So while registration is voluntary and the profession self-regulating, it is a kind of official state recognition of the profession.
In fact it gives homeopaths the right to use the protected title ‘Registered Homeopath’.
Three other countries have followed in the footsteps of the Norwegian government. The first to follow were the Danes, who in June 2004 likewise introduced a public register of CAM practitioners. The register includes practitioners who meet well-defined educational standards and are members of a professional organisation that takes the steps necessary for registration and its upkeep.
The government expressed the hope that the decision will bridge the gap between practitioners of alternative and conventional therapies, for the benefit of better patient care. Similarly, the governments of Sweden and Iceland intend to create public voluntary registers for CAM practitioners. The Swedes have already agreed to use money from the state budget to set up this register.
Until 1999 the practice of CAM therapies in Belgium was illegal, because these therapies did not exist in Belgian law. In 1999 legislation covering four therapies, one of which is homeopathy, was introduced for a vote. Committees and procedures are being set up under the new legislation, which will establish the legal right of homeopaths to practise, if and provided that they are registered in the new national register. It is worth noting that the practice of CAM therapies has been legally permitted in the Netherlands since 1993.
In July 2003 the Portuguese Parliament voted for a new law that recognises the practice of homeopathy and five other CAM therapies. This new law safeguards the right of Portuguese citizens to choose freely the treatment they prefer, and it also lays the foundations for regulating the practitioners of these therapies as independent health professionals. In Germany non-medical homeopaths have been recognised and regulated by the German government since 1939, through the Heilpraktikergesetz.”
Finally, he stressed that the use of homeopathy to treat a range of different diseases does not rule out the need for conventional medicine, and that on the contrary we need both.
He also stressed that:
“The practice of homeopathy is preceded by proper and complete training in it. The ECCH, the European Central Council of Homeopaths, has drawn up a complete curriculum, so that in the European Union the training of homeopaths is equally complete and sound in all member states, because this is what the interest of the health of the citizens who choose homeopathy demands.”
Stephen Gordon, Secretary General of the ECCH, focused on the practice of homeopathy in England. Specifically, he said the following:
“In the United Kingdom the use of CAM is very widespread, because the UK’s legal situation has allowed its natural development, driven by patient demand. Until recently most complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) was paid for privately. Now its provision by the NHS is increasing steadily, and over 40% of general practitioners provide access to CAM. The increase in the use of CAM reflects the common perception that conventional medicine (CM), although effective in many areas, also has limitations. There are situations in which CM is ineffective, because CM focuses primarily on the disease, whereas CAM focuses more on the sick person.
CM is concerned with controlling symptoms, whereas CAM aims to restore the patient to health. In 1993 the British Medical Association (BMA) issued a report that defined homeopathy, acupuncture, osteopathy and chiropractic as ‘discrete clinical disciplines’ (Complementary Medicine – new approaches to good practice, BMA 1993).
Discrete clinical disciplines have their own distinct philosophical and methodological basis and can be taught and practised as autonomous health professions. In 2000 the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology on CAM proposed that acupuncture and herbal medicine follow osteopathy and chiropractic and become statutorily regulated professions. According to the report, statutory regulation of homeopaths’ practice will come at another time, because the regulation of homeopathy is less urgent, since homeopathic medicines (unlike the other four disciplines) are essentially safe/low-risk for patients. The UK government endorsed these recommendations.
All CAM therapies in the UK have created National Occupational Standards (NOS) for each discipline. These national occupational standards have been endorsed by the state education body, and they set out the agreed aims, standards and skills of each health profession separately. The NOS are used as the basis for entry to the state registers and as a means of defining the curricula of the colleges and universities that teach the CAM disciplines.
The idea of understanding the ‘limits of competence’ is central to the content of each NOS, to the training of homeopaths and to other CAM disciplines. Each professional’s limits of competence are defined by the limits of their training and experience, and therefore they cannot apply skills in which they have not been trained. In the UK specifically, this means that CAM professionals are not in a position to:
• make a conventional medical diagnosis
• prescribe conventional medicines
• advise patients to stop conventional medicines/treatment
• claim to cure specific diseases, e.g. cancer, sexually transmitted diseases
In other words, they must know when to refer to practitioners of conventional health professions for other competences/skills.
In the UK there are 2,500 non-medical homeopaths, who are registered with a number of different professional associations, have been trained at private colleges or universities, and whose training lasts either four years (part-time) or three years (full-time). Indeed, there are now three universities offering three-year Bachelor’s degrees in homeopathy. There are also 300 doctors fully trained in homeopathy, who are registered with the Faculty of Homeopathy, and finally there are 200 partially trained doctors, because they have completed a one-year part-time introductory course in homeopathy.
Doctors who practise homeopathy are regulated by the General Medical Council, as indeed all doctors are. Homeopaths are regulated by one of the nine associations they have voluntarily joined. The House of Lords report of 2000 called for the creation of a single national register for each CAM therapy. In 2000 a joint council made up of the nine homeopathic associations was created in order to create this single register of UK homeopaths for the benefit of the public. Its start date is 2007.
The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health is leading the way in bringing CAM together with conventional medicine in the National Health Service. The UK government granted this foundation 1.5 million euros to support improvement work on the regulation of the CAM professions. CAM practitioners are regarded as an asset in the UK. In the last three years the British government has granted 1.5 million euros to develop more high-quality research in CAM. Recently the government granted 0.5 million euros to three studies on the use of CAM in the treatment of cancer patients.
Non-medical homeopaths work on their own or in general practitioners’ surgeries, general practitioners refer patients to homeopaths, there are 5 homeopathic hospitals in the UK, and finally the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital has just reopened after a 30-million-euro refurbishment.
Despite all the systematic attacks on homeopathy, its use and its practice by homeopaths and doctors continue to grow around the world. This is happening because it is effective for patients, and there is a growing body of evidence from research that supports it. Homeopathy offers benefits to Greek citizens when used as part of integrated health care.
But for these benefits to exist, it is essential that homeopathy be provided by well-trained and regulated professionals, whether they are doctors or non-medical homeopaths.”
