Fighting Limits on Homeopathic Treatment
Homeopathy has been in use since the late 17th century. A 2023 meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials revealed “significant positive effects of homoeopathy beyond placebo” and stated that “The quality of evidence for positive effects of homoeopathy beyond placebo was high for individualised homoeopathy and moderate for all homoeopathy types and nonindividualised homoeopathy.” Yet, homeopathy has many detractors. In 2019, the UK National Health Service wanted to blacklist the practice of homeopathy.
Now, in South Africa, a new National Department of Health draft calls for limitations on the therapies and medicines needed by homeopaths to aid those in need. These proposed limitations include various combination complementary medicines as well as injectable homeopathic medicines.
“The scope of practice published by the National Department of Health sets out how homoeopaths can practise in the country, including the procedures and actions they can undertake and medicines they are allowed to dispense.”
The current level of homeopathic care is working:
- Claims of health improvement are stated by 95% of Khula Natural Health Centres’ visitors, compared with 20% of those utilizing clinics and hospitals
- Under-resourced areas such as rural communities are relying more on homeopathy healthcare
- Homeopathic care is less expensive
In contrast to potential limitations, Bianca de Canha, president of the Homoeopathic Association of South Africa, is calling for increased roles: “Because we believe homoeopaths have a significant role to play in advancing healthcare access in South Africa, our submission on the draft scope of practice also made an additional request – access to prescribe drugs on the essential medicines list.”
Sources:
Limitations in draft regulations will restrict homeopathic treatment. Juta Medical Brief: Africa’s Medical Media Digest. Retrieved August 11, 2024 from: www.medicalbrief.co.za/limitations-in-draft-regulations-will-restrict-homeopathic-treatment/.
Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. What Is Homeopathy and Does It Work? Retrieved August 11, 2024 from health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-homeopathy.
Hamre, HJ et al. Efficacy of homoeopathic treatment: Systematic review of meta-analyses of randomised placebo-controlled homoeopathy trials for any indication. Systemic Reviews. 2023;12:article number 191. Retrieved fromhttps://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-023-02313-2#Sec66.
