Author: nech

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ECH Position statement – May 2021

The European Committee for Homeopathy is committed to patients’ rights and safety and it welcomes all measures taken to reinforce these during the pandemic.

European cooperation is paramount in the current situation, to ensure equal and safe access to all available preventions and treatments, so that the unity of our continent is safeguarded.

We welcome case collection projects and the sharing of information among homeopathic physicians to benefit from the experiences collected and their results.

ECH does not provide advice regarding any specific treatment for acute and long term Covid 19 disease or possible side effects of any treatment for Covid 19.

Homeopathic physicians and pharmacists are committed to take care of their patients using the most up-to-date information provided by health authorities and at the same time homeopathic physicians and pharmacists take into consideration that every treatment has to be personalized and adapted to the unique symptoms of each patient.

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ECH Official statement about Covid19 treatment and prevention

The European Committee for Homeopathy supports all efforts globally to overcome the Covid19 pandemic. The aim of the ECH is the full integration of homeopathy into the global healthcare system to improve patient outcomes and the environment.

As health care professionals we strongly believe that all available and efficient therapeutic approaches should be used not only in this current situation but generally in healthcare.

Safe and effective vaccinations, as well as complementary treatments and immunity reinforcing measures are part of the solution. Medical doctors and pharmacists with an additional qualification in homeopathy are committed to their patients’ care and wellbeing.

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Dr Jacques Imberechts (1937-2020)

It is with great sadness that we learn of the passing of Dr Jacques Imberechts on 2 November 2020, at the age of 83.

Jacques was the founder of ECH and was for many years its President and also President of Liga Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis.

He was an inspiring and tireless promoter and advocate of homeopathy worldwide, with an inimitable combination of humour and modesty, barely hiding his great vision for the future of medicine and homeopathy.

We will all remember his smile and his jokes, but above all we will remember his wise lessons that guide us to an understanding of what is important and meaningful for us to do.

 

Rest in peace, Jacques,

with the respect and affection of all of the homeopathic community.

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Tributes to Dr Jacques Imberechts (1937- 2020)

Half a century of homeopathy in Europe

Jacques Imberechts passed away the 2 November 2020, at the age of 83, after a life fully  committed to medicine and homeopathy.

His exemplary career is for us  the opportunity to analyze the past half-century, and to considere the challenges homeopathy faced within the medical world. Because Jacques’ path, in addition to being a personal adventure, embodies the major developments which led to a future-oriented homeopathic thinking.

Outstanding clinician, trained by Pierre Schimdt in Geneva, his practice very popular for his many patients welcomed students who wanted to benefit his profound knowledge of semeiology and homeopathic materia medica. Jacques was one of the first teachers at the  « Ecole belge d’Homéopathie » and member of the « Société Royale Belge d’Homéopathie ».

Polyglot globe-trotter, he extended his scope to the entire world, teaching in Spain, for example, for free, has long as he was hosted, to share his knowledge and experience the widest possible way.

He used to say “you must feed the cow”, meaning homeopathy has given you so much you must give it back your work and spread it. That is what he did, creating the working group  “Homeopathia Europea” which originated the cases collection programme Clificol (Clinical Files Collection) associated with Radar software, which still works and is currently actively involved in collecting data on Covid 19 patients being treated by homeopaths in the world.

Founding father of the  European Committee for Homeopathy  he chaired for long, and then supported and followed closely all over the years, he was also the president of the  Liga Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis which he always supported as well. Jacques strongly believed solidarity and exchanges between homeopathic physicians were key factors.

Just recently he called for even closer cooperation with veterinarian homeopathic colleagues, and moreover for the inclusion of working groups involving agronomists, exploring the newly developed concept of agrohomeopathy, in our midst.

Passionate advocate of freedom to prescribe, freedom to think and independency towards financial powers, he expressed his positions with his cheeky humour, his strenght and his provocative intelligence, closed to his truth, ignoring the convoluted decorum.

All those who knew him keep the strong memory of a man of conviction and commitment, a joyful bon-vivant, a humanist and a visionary, endearing even if sometimes untenable character .

He was a great sir of homeopathy and his impulse will support us in the coming times of sanitary and human challenges.

Dr Hélène Renoux, ECH President

Tributes to Jacques Imberechts from all over Europe

 

Jacques, who was fluent in Spanish, had a very important role in the development of homeopathy in Spain in the last century. He helped to set up the

Homeopatia Europea groups, which trained many Spanish medical homeopaths in the 1970s and 80s. Jacques also supported the Spanish homeopaths in the treatment of the victims of the Toxic Oil Syndrome, a 1981 outbreak caused by contaminated colza oil which killed over 600 people in Spain. Jacques was always a source of inspiration, strength and wisdom.

Jaume

Dr Jaume Costa MD, MFHom (Med) (Ireland)

 

 

I really loved him! I have very good “souvenirs” of him – he was a very very good Human being!

My dear Jacques, I miss you!

Love

Francisco Patrício (Portugal)

 

 

Dear all,

I remember him singing during our dinner.

He was full of imagination and totally involved in his ECH BABY.

I will miss him.

Florence Paturel (France)

 

 

Jacques was wonderful. And I can´t imagine any ECH meeting without him.

My biggest memory for him is, when he told me about thoughts of Jan Hus, Czech medieval theologist and philosopher…

Deep condolence for his family and whole homeopathic family!

Also by name of board of Homeopathic Medical Association

Jaroslav Cupera (Czech Republic)

 

 

Jacques has played a big role in the development of homeopathy in Europe.

In a small book by Jean Lansmanne about dilutions (in French, a must read) he wrote in the preface:

“In the last 45 years I have been around in the world of homeopathy, there has been one of my phrases that makes me unpopular with my colleagues: it is when I say they have to be diligent farmers. A good farmer feeds his cows properly before taking its milk. Sadly, there are too many homeopaths who milk homeopathy without feeding it.”

Edward de Beukelaert (Belgium)

 

 

It is very sad to have lost Jaques both for the homeopathic world and for ECH. His figure made tenderness and respect. His great love for the profession prompted him to attend ECH meetings until he made it.

We’ll miss him

Tiziana Di Giampietro (Italy)

 

 

Peace and Light to the soul of Jacques Imberechts

Besides everything he did for ECH and LMHI he has helped many  homeopaths to understand what it means to feed the cow:) and to work for the community.

We  are very thankful for the help our Association  got from him before we became ECH members and after that!

Dora Pachova (Bulgaria)

 

 

The ECH Subcommittee Documentation goes back to Jacques Imberechts. He initiated the very first meeting in Brussels. In the beginning he attended the working meetings of the Subcommittee and gave his professional input as a homeopathic physician in the creation of the ECH Homeopathic Thesaurus.

Margaret Wyllie (UK)

 

 

I first met Jacques Imberechts when he was Chair of the  ECH Pharmacology and Pharmacopoeia sub-Committee  in the 1990s.  Initially, our relationship was very formal but as the years rolled by, we became very comfortable in each other’s presence and indeed developed a warm and jovial friendship.  When I became Chair of  ‘his’ subcommittee  and a member of Council, we changed the name  to  the much simpler ‘Pharmacy’.  I think  Jacques did not really approve, but nevertheless joined us on many occasions, wandering into the meeting, contributing a few comments, often about the inconsistency of Pharmacopoeial standards, and then wandering out again, to the amusement (and in some cases, confusion) of members. Nobody minded (much)!   I can recall having many interesting discussions during General Assembly weekends in Brussels and beyond. I  found him to have an engaging presence –  and a fine selection of bow ties.  We last met   at the 70th LMHI Conference in Rio, and enjoyed  a short chat about old times.    Such characters are few and far between in homeopathy these days! Adieu Jacques.  Repose en paix

Kind regards

Steven

Dr Steven Kayne (UK)

 

 

Dear Marie Laurence,

on behalf of ECH SC pharmacy, we would like to send our sincere condolences!

Jacques often attended our SC meetings, he initially complained about the renaming from Subcommittee pharmacology to Subcommittee pharmacy, but in the end he seemed happy with our work. Satisfied, he bobbed his stick and we also enjoyed having a drink with him …

We commemorated him this weekend at the ECH meeting pharmacy and General Assembly.

Rest in peace, dear Jacques

Ilse

Ilse Muchitsch Mag. pharm. (Austria)

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ECH Press Release on COVID-19

ECH wants to remind all homeopathic health professionals that:

  • It is of the upmost importance to comply and abide by the guidelines produced by the national public health authorities. Please, see Annex.
  • The information on the epidemic changes regularly and health professionals should keep themselves updated with the latest information from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization.
  • Homeopathic health professionals should inform patients of the standard hygiene practices to contain and mitigate the spread of the epidemic.

Homeopathic health professionals may inform their patients of potential non-specific measures to increase their immunity. Homeopathic symptomatic treatments offer a safe and cost-effective possibility to support the self-healing processes of patients and are to be considered within the therapeutic tool kit.

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Healthier Europe with Homeopathy

Manifesto of the European Committee for Homeopathy (ECH) and the European Federation of Homeopathic Patients Associations (EFHPA)

Homeopathy: a solution for major healthcare problems in the EU

  • Helps to reduce the need of antibiotics in human and veterinary health care, thus reducing the problem of antimicrobial resistance [i],[ii]
  • Increases quality of life and reduces severity of complaints in patients with chronic disease, when integrated in health care [iii],[iv],[v],[vi],[vii],[viii]
  • Can reduce the use of long-term conventional prescription drugs, when integrated in health care [ix]

Homeopathy: safe and cost-effective with a high patient satisfaction

  • Can lead to lower health care costs, when integrated in health care, [x],[xi],[xii],
  • Is safe, with high patient satisfaction [xiii],[xiv],[xv],[xvi]
  • Patients using homeopathy have better outcomes than users of conventional treatment, with similar costs [xvii]
  • Quality, safety and correct labelling of homeopathic products is guaranteed by Directive 2001/83 EC

 EU consumers expect and demand homeopathy as part of their health care

  • Reported as the most used medical complementary medicine in Europe [xviii]
  • Three out of four European citizens know about homeopathy and out of them 29% use it for their day-to day health care [xix]

 Scientific evidence of the highest calibre confirms the clinical efficacy of homeopathic   medicine

There is convincing evidence for biological efficacy of homeopathic medicine

  • Irrefutable scientific evidence has been published on the positive effects of homeopathic products in laboratory settings [xxvii],[xxviii]

References

 

[i]
                  Grimaldi-Bensouda L, Bégaud B, Rossignol M, et al. Management of upper respiratory tract infections by different medical practices, including homeopathy, and consumption of antibiotics in primary care: the EPI3 cohort study in France 2007-2008. PLoS One. 2014 Mar 19;9(3):e89990

[ii]

Camerlink I, Ellinger L, Bakker EJ, Lantinga EA. Homeopathy as replacement to antibiotics in the case of Escherichia coli diarrhoea in neonatal piglets. Homeopathy. 2010 Jan;99(1):57-62

[iii]

Witt CM, Lüdtke R, Baur R, Willich SN. Homeopathic medical practice: long-term results of a cohort study with 3981 patients. BMC Public Health 2005; 5:115

[iv]

Spence DS, Thompson EA, Barron SJ. Homeopathic treatment for chronic disease: a 6-year, university-hospital outpatient observational study. J Altern Complement Med 2005; 11:793–798

[v]

Mathie RT, Robinson TW. Outcomes from homeopathic prescribing in medical practice: a prospective, research-targeted, pilot study. Homeopathy 2006; 95:199–205

[vi]

Thompson EA, Mathie RT, Baitson ES, et al. Towards standard setting for patient-reported outcomes in the NHS homeopathic hospitals. Homeopathy 2008; 97:114–121

[vii]

Witt CM, Lüdtke R, Mengler N, Willich SN. How healthy are chronically ill patients after eight years of homeopathic treatment?–Results from a long term observational study BMC Public Health 2008;8:413

[viii]

Rossi E, Endrizzi C, Panozzo MA, Bianchi A, Da Frè M. Homeopathy in the public health system: a seven-year observational study at Lucca Hospital (Italy). Homeopathy 2009; 98:142–148

[ix]

Grimaldi-Bensouda L, Abenhaim L, Massol J, et al. EPI3-LA-SER group. Homeopathic medical practice for anxiety and depression in primary care: the EPI3 cohort study. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2016 May 4; 16:125

[x]

Kooreman P, Baars EW. Patients whose GP knows complementary medicine tend to have lower costs and live longer. Eur J Health Econ. 2012 Dec;13(6):769-76

[xi]

Baars EW, Kooreman P. A 6-year comparative economic evaluation of healthcare costs and mortality rates of Dutch patients from conventional and CAM GPs. BMJ Open. 2014 Aug 27;4(8):e005332

[xii]

Colas A, Danno K, Tabar C, Ehreth J, Duru G. Economic impact of homeopathic practice in general medicine in France. Health Econ Rev. 2015;5(1):55

[xiii]

Van Wassenhoven M, Galen Y. An observational study of patients receiving homeopathic treatment. Homeopathy 2004 Jan;93(1):3-11

[xiv]

Marian F, Joost K, Saini KD, von Ammon K, Thurneysen A, Busato A. Patient satisfaction and side effects in primary care: An observational study comparing homeopathy and conventional medicine. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2008 Sep 18; 8:52

[xv]

Witt C, Keil T, Selim D, et al. Outcome and costs of homoeopathic and conventional treatment strategies: a comparative cohort study in patients with chronic disorders. Complement Ther Med. 2005;13(2):79-86

[xvi]

Marian F, Joost K, Saini KD, von Ammon K, Thurneysen A, Busato A. Patient satisfaction and side effects in primary care: An observational study comparing homeopathy and conventional medicine. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2008 Sep 18; 8:52

[xvii]

Bornhöft G, Wolf U, von Ammon K, Righetti M, Maxion-Bergemann S, Baumgartner S, Thurneysen AE, Matthiessen PF. Effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of homeopathy in general practice – summarized health technology assessment.Forsch Komplementmed. 2006;13 Suppl 2:19-29. Epub 2006 Jun 26. Review

[xviii]

Eardley S, Bishop FL, Prescott P, Cardini F, Brinkhaus B, Santos K Ͳ Rey, Vas J, von Ammon K, Hegyi G, Dragan S, Uehleke B, Fønnebø V, Lewith G. CAM use in Europe. The patients’ perspective.Part I: A systematic literature review of CAM prevalence in the EU. 2012. Online retrieved 19-11-2019. https://cam-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CAMbrella-WP4-part_1final.pdf

[xix]

Report of the European Commission, 1997. Online retrieved 15-12-2019 via https://www.hri-research.org/resources/essentialevidence/use-of-homeopathy-across-the-world/

[xx]

Linde K, Clausius N, Ramirez G, Melchart D, Eitel F, Hedges LV, Jonas WB. Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials. Lancet. 1997 Sep 20;350(9081):834-4.

[xxi]

Cucherat M, Haugh MC, Gooch M, Boissel JP.Evidence of clinical efficacy of homeopathy. A meta-analysis of clinical trials. HMRAG. Homeopathic Medicines Research Advisory Group. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2000 Apr;56(1):27-33

[xxii]

Hahn RG. Homeopathy: meta-analyses of pooled clinical data. Forsch Komplementmed. 2013;20(5):376-81

[xxiii]

Mathie RT, Van Wassenhoven M, Jacobs J et al. Model validity and risk of bias in randomised placebo-controlled trials of individualised homeopathic treatment. Complement Ther Med. 2016 Apr; 25:120-5

[xxiv]

Mathie RT, Lloyd, SM, Legg, LA, Clausen J, Moss S, Davidson JR, Ford: Randomised placebo-controlled trials of individualised homeopathic treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis. Syst Rev 2014 Dec 6; 3:142

[xxv]

Mathie RT, Clausen J. Veterinary homeopathy: systematic review of medical conditions studied by randomised placebo-controlled trials. Vet Rec. 2014 Oct 18;175(15):373-81.

[xxvi]

Mathie RT, Clausen J. Veterinary homeopathy: meta-analysis of randomised placebo-controlled trials. Homeopathy. 2015 Jan;104(1):3-8.

[xxvii]

Tournier A, Klein SD, Würtenberger S, Wolf U, Baumgartner S. Physicochemical Investigations of Homeopathic Preparations: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis-Part 2. J Altern Complement Med. 2019 Jul 10

[xxviii]

[xxviii]Witt CM, Bluth M, Albrecht H, Weisshuhn TE, Baumgartner S, Willich SN. The in vitro evidence for an effect of high homeopathic potencies–a systematic review of the literature. Complement. Ther Med. 2007 Jun;15(2):128-38

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Homeopathy’s role and value to address antimicrobial resistance

ECH – SSH conference: Homeopathy’s role and value to address antimicrobial resistance – Online access to the articles

Dr Hélène RENOUX – ECH president

Pr Leoni Bonamin – Paulista University (Sao Paulo)

Pr Jennifer Jacobs – University of Washington

Pr Francesco Macri – La sapienza University (Rome)

Dr Liesbeth Ellinger – The Netherlands

Dr Lex Rutten – The Netherlands

Dr Katharina Gaertner – Wisshom

Dr Bernard Poitevin – SSH

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Enid Segall (1935-2019)

It is with deep sadness that we learn that Enid Segall, President of the European Federation of Homeopathic Patients Associations, passed away on Friday June 21st.

Enid Segall has worked tirelessly for homeopathy for many decades, and has been a positive force as a patients’ advocate alongside ECH since the early 2000’s. She fought constantly in her own unique and determined way for the patients’ right to choose their treatment of choice.

At the first ECH congress in Vienna she was a constant presence in the front row, to represent patients and stress the importance of the patient voice to the whole community.

The patients’ movement has gone from strength to strength, so her work will continue to be built on, and her constant advocacy for homeopathy has inspired many.

All our gratitude for this, dear Enid.

The ECH Council