Category: News and Events

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1st International Conference for Homeopathy, Agriculture and the Environment and 2nd Agrohomeopathy Symposium

4-5 December, online

Jointly organised by ECH and Abhama

(Associação Brasileira de Homeopatia na Agricultura e Ambiente)

At the recent ECH meeting in Vienna, Leonardo Faedo and Ileana Rîndaşu inaugurated the Working Group on Agrohomeopathy with a fascinating presentation. They invited members to join the 1st International Conference for Homeopathy, Agriculture and The Environment and the 2nd Agrohomeopathy Symposium, (online) on 4 and 5 December 2023. This is being organised jointly by Abhama (Associação Brasileira de Homeopatia na Agricultura e Ambiente) and ECH.

Register here

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WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit

Three ECH members attended the world’s first Traditional Medicine Global Summit last month in Gujarat, India, jointly hosted by WHO and the Indian Government.  Elio Rossi and Dora Pachova represented EUROCAM and Cristal Skaling-Klopstock, a member of the TCIM steering group, attended on behalf of the European Federation of Homeopathic Patients Associations (EFHPA).

The summit  was held alongside the G20 health ministerial meeting, to mobilise political commitment and evidence-based action on traditional medicine, which is a first port of call for millions of people worldwide to address their health and well-being needs.  

WHO has now published the Gujarat Declaration, which summarises the evidence-based outcomes of the Summit – https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/who-traditional-medicine-summit-2023-meeting-report–gujarat-declaration

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Dr Pachova shares some insights into the recent WHO summit

How do you think the event went?

The event was very well-organised. There were representatives from many different groups and levels, including highly acknowledged scientists such as Professor Bhushan Patwardhan (PhD, FNASc, FNAMS), Chairman of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council Executive Committee, Former Vice Chairman of the University Grants Commission, and Chairman of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, author of over 175 scientific publications.  Also present were Ministers of Health and Ministers of complementary medicine, Directors of complementary medicine departments from different countries, WHO officers, university professors, doctors practising various complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) methods, healers, shamans and representatives of indigenous communities from every continents, as well as representatives of the People’s Declaration about TCIH from around the world.

The conference allowed people to hear news about the development of complementary medicine politics, the new ICD 11 with a chapter on complementary medicine, and more. We were able to ask questions and share our concerns about the ways in which complementary medicine will be evaluated.

How will the summit help homeopathy & complementary healthcare moving forward?

I hope it will help us to move forward as a member of EUROCAM.  EUROCAM represents European Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine and is accredited to the WHO Regional Office of Europe as a non-state actor. EUROCAM also represents the European TCIH movement. The TCIH Declaration calls for respectful collaboration between traditional, complementary and biomedical practices with the aim of achieving a person-centred and holistic approach to health. It is a coalition of over 300 organisations worldwide, founded in 2022, representing practitioners, users, researchers and educators. We can be proud that ECH is an active member of it.

It was an eye-opener for we Europeans to participate and understand that, while more than 100 countries around the world have found ways to integrate and regulate traditional or complementary medical approaches into their healthcare systems, Europe is lagging behind. According to the WHO Global Report on Traditional and complementary medicine 2019, Europe is the region where countries have least embraced WHO recommendations regarding regulation and research in complementary medicine. In 2018, only 21% of European member states had a research institute for traditional and complementary medicine and only 20% had a traditional medicine national policy. 

See here the whole article: https://www.univadis.com/viewarticle/should-europe-reconsider-its-approach-traditional-medicine-2023a1000jsd 

We can move forward more confidently, enjoying the support and knowledge of our colleagues from around the world.

We have to communicate much better to everyone – policymakers, patients, practitioners – about what homeopathy can do for ONE HEALTH.

The most-repeated slogan by many of the speakers was, “One Earth, One Family, One Future.” Homeopathy can contribute in reducing AMR and making humans, animals, and plants healthier with its eco-friendly remedies.

I personally believe the homeopathic community will benefit from a constructive dialogue with our colleagues practicing other CAM methods. We have to put patients at the centre and discuss how we can combine methods and cooperate to achieve sustainable health for all.

What should the next step be?

We have to strengthen ECH’s position in EUROCAM, and we have to help EUROCAM to strengthen its position as a non-state actor in WHO, representing TCIH in Europe and all TCIH stakeholders. We have many questions to ask at the levels both of WHO and also of Europe. 

We have to be united and continue to communicate, carefully following the process to counteract any measures which are not favourable to us. 

We have to participate in the decisions about what is evidence-based in allopathic medicine and in TCIM. Complementary medicine incorporates practices proved by millions of patients throughout centuries. They are evidenced, they are based in practice – they cannot be squeezed into allopathic EBM. “After all, what is the definition of evidence in medicine?” – one of the participants asked.

I would like to quote here Shyama Kuruvilla, the leader of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre (Jamnagar, Gujarat, India): “We do have to ask whether our scientific methods are up to the task of understanding the complexities of traditional medicine.”  This was published in The Lancet, Vol 402, September 2, 2023.

We have to be active in order to define the best way to connect complementary medicine with science and innovations. This cannot happen mechanically or by AI. We, as holistic practitioners (CAM, TM, IM) know this, and it is our responsibility to be active, to help, and to protect.

Another eye-opener for me personally was the fact that there were representatives from different indigenous communities from all over the world, but not from Europe. Does Europe not have any indigenous communities? Does Europe not have any traditional healing methods worth sharing with the whole world? Who represents these communities? For example, there is a strong movement now in Bulgaria – young people are returning to the villages and growing their own food in an environmentally friendly way. They help to maintain biodiversity as other indigenous communities do. We have to contact them – we have to tell them about homeopathy for animals and agriculture. What about traditional practices in European countries? I am sure there is a huge intellectual complementary medicine  heritage in all European countries.

What are your takeaways?

It was very important to be there and to see how people around the world present and protect their traditional healing practices, how they integrate them, and/or how they raise their voice to protect their intellectual properties and their rights to have access to their traditional complementary medicine methods and practitioners.

My takeaways are the words of Professor Bhushan Patwardhan: “Traditional medicine plus contemporary mainstream medicine will create the medicine of the future.”

Moving forward, we have a lot of work to do:

  • Protect the European heritage in complementary medicine – homeopathy is one of the heritage
  • Support those who protect our European biodiversity
  • Develop a patient-centred approach with respect to culture
  • As an educator, I received confirmation of how important it is to implement systems thinking in education – at schools and universities. People have to understand what it means for their health, their family’s health, their community’s health, and the health of our Earth to understand the link between their personal health, biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and healing methods.

Dora Pachova

EUROCAM delegate at the WHO TM Summit

ECH Education SC Coordinator

_____________________________________

Some important quotations:

SONOWAL

The WHO has also shared the initial findings of the global survey on traditional medicine.

Read more at:

 

THE  Lancet: 

www.thelancet.com Vol 402 September 2, 2023 

“We do have to ask whether our scientific methods are up to the task of understanding the complexities of traditional medicine”, conceded Kuruvilla.

Ghod encourages policy-makers to work out the most responsible way to integrate traditional and conventional medicine and to ensure providers are knowledgeable about different treatment options and how they might interact with or complement each other. “Our ultimate aim should be to have a comprehensive healthcare system focused on the patient’s needs and preferences, not proving the superiority of one medical discipline over the other”, she concluded.

Resources:

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HRI Statement on Frass et al. 2020 investigation

24 October 2022

HRI has been made aware of an investigation into a study published by Frass et al.1 in The Oncologist journal in 2020.

Serious allegations have been made against the research team which are strongly refuted by those involved. It is essential that the authors are given a formal ‘right of reply’ to respond to the charges made against them – something they have been denied as yet. HRI will continue to monitor this ongoing situation closely.

1. Frass M, Lechleitner P, Grundling C, Pirker C, Grasmuk-Siegl E, Domayer J, Hochmayr M, Gaertner K, Duscheck C, Muchitsch I et al (2020b) Homeopathic treatment as an add-on therapy may improve quality of life and prolong survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: a prospective, randomized, placebocontrolled, double-blind, three-arm, multicenter study. Oncologist 25(12):e1930-e1955

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Declaration on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Healthcare

Traditional, complementary and integrative healthcare (TCIH) refers to the respectful collaboration between various systems of healthcare and their health professionals with the aim of offering a person-centred and holistic approach to health.

Various CAM organisations have come together to issue a Declaration on Traditional Complementary and Integrative Healthcare. The healthcare we want focuses on the whole person, is participative, respects individual choices as well as cultural diversity and integrates clinical experience and patient values with the best available research information. Full access to traditional, complementary and integrative healthcare should be part of the right to health.

This is being strongly promoted by many different global organisations, including EUROCAM and the European Federation of Homeopathic Patients Associations (EFHPA). We urge members to sign and to encourage their organisations and institutions to do so. https://tcih.org

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ECH statement following the developments in Ukraine

Following the developments in Ukraine, the ECH declares that its members endeavour to help with treatment for all victims of psychological and physical trauma.

As their core values, the homeopathic community and ECH hold dear the life and health of people and respect for all living entities. We therefore support all victims of war and conflict and we will respond to the best of our ability to every request for help with treatment.

ECH supports the statement made by EPHA and the actions of other EPHA members. The EPHA Ukraine webpage can be found here: https://epha.org/epha-calls-on-the-international-community-the-eu-and-member-states-to-protect-the-health-of-all-people-affected-by-the-crisis-in-ukraine/

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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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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