ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE AND IS RECOGNIZED IN THE EUROPEAN

Yoga centers, meditation, hypnosis and acupuncture, and homeopathic products are becoming increasingly an option for Europeans who feel that their disease can not be cured with traditional treatments.

According to the European Commission in the 27 countries of the European Union (EU) is estimated to complementary and alternative medicine reported annually with 100 million customers, although the trend is increasing.

Only industry homeopathic medicine increased its sales in the EU of 590 million euros (about $ 800 million) in 1995 to 930 million euros (about $ 1,260) in 2005, with major customers in France, Germany, Italy , Holland, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom and Poland, which together account for 90% market share.

Currently it is estimated that per capita spending in Europe in homeopathic remedies is 4 euros (U.S. $ 5.5) per year and represents 1% of the pharmaceutical market and 7% of purchases without medical prescription.

“Many Europeans are taking responsibility for their treatment, because they are dissatisfied with the results of traditional medicine or unwilling to resign themselves to the doctor’s recommendation that they must learn to live with pain and disease,” he told BBC World Nand De Herdt, President of the European Coalition on Homeopathic Medicine Products and Anthroposophical (ECHAMP, for its acronym in English).

“There are also those who want to avoid the side effects of pharmaceutical treatments,” he said.

According to European Commission figures, 197,000 people die each year in the EU due to adverse reactions to conventional medicines.

Fraud and manipulation

197,000 people die each year in the EU due to adverse reactions to conventional medicines.
But not all sympathetic to alternative therapies. The theorists of modern medicine question its effectiveness for treating diseases such as influenza, rheumatism, allergies, among others.

To test their effectiveness and avoid both the fraud, such as compromising the patient’s life, the European Commission has decided to fund research on these remedies with a budget of 1.5 million euros over the next three years.

The German doctor Wolfgang Weidenhammer, project manager, says the idea is to develop a knowledge base that allows citizens to really know the functioning of the healing methods.

The research, involving 16 scientific organizations also aims to create a consensus on terminology medicinal remedies, and review the policies governing these treatments.

“It will serve as a starting point for future research on a subject that is gaining more prominence in European healthcare systems,” said Weidenhammer, Technical University of Munich, Germany.

No Risk

Currently it is estimated that per capita spending in Europe in homeopathic remedies is 4 euros per year.
The project finally puts Cambrelle non-drug remedies focus on the European Commission, who had hitherto shown little interest in this sector, according to experts in Brussels.

However, analysts believe that beyond promoting complementary medicine, the basic strategy of the EU executive is to regulate their application, from traditional Chinese medicine, to a technique called biofeedback, under which the patient learns to control the internal functions of your body.

Following the introduction of registration of herbal products in 2004, the Commission now wants to launch a new era of regulation covering all other alternative therapies.

“We need more control, but in Brussels there is a tendency toward excessive regulation,” says De Herdt.

“They want to reduce the level of risk to zero, an unattainable goal and end up banning the use of certain substances, some of them even from daily consumption of vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes or broccoli.”