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Latest News:
22 June 2009
Swedish Laws on CAM Identified as Unhealthy For Children's Rights
Sweden is the only country in Europe that has a law prohibiting children under the age of 8 from being treated with Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). It also prohibits the treatment of pregnant women and women in labour with CAM.
In 2008 a petition was made to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) by a Swedish network called Heal the Children claiming that through this law Sweden was in contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (http://www.unicef.org/crc/) The Convention is a legally binding instrument for all countries that are signatories, including Sweden The petitioners called for the UNCRC to enquire into this completely anomalous situation.
In February of this year a delegation from Heal The Children in Sweden was invited to Geneva to present their case at a hearing of the UNCRC, a large committee with delegates from all around the World.. The Swedish delegation included a lawyer, an osteopath, an organisational consultant and Stephanie Arnberg Bengtsson from the Swedish association member of ECCH - Svensk Akademin för Klassisk Homeopati (SAKH).
After a hearing by the UNCRC, which was also attended by the Swedish Ombudsman, a letter was sent to the Swedish Government asking it to fully implement the Convention on Children's Rights into Swedish legislation. Although Sweden has been a signatory to the Convention it appears that in a number of areas it has not fully implemented the contents of the internationally binding convention into its domestic legislation. In addition the Committee listed the matter of children's treatment with CAM as an issue for consideration at a further meeting in Geneva on 27 May 2009.
Following the meeting on 27 May the UNCRC published a report on 12 June on the overall situation with regards to Sweden's compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Along with a number of observations and recommendations the following two paragraphs were included:
Health and health services
42. The Committee notes that complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a recognized field of medicine both in Europe and globally. To this end, the Committee is concerned that the State party prohibits the use of CAM for examination, treatment and care of children below eight years of age as well as pregnant women and women in labour and it is concerned that such a prohibition challenges the rights of all individuals in the State party, including children, to choose a method of treatment and that it might deprive them of their right to the highest attainable standard of health.
43. The Committee recommends that the State party consider reviewing and amending existing legislation to ensure that all children, without distinction of age, have access to CAM examination, treatment and care and can enjoy their right to the highest attainable standard of health.
The European Central Council of Homeopaths wholeheartedly welcomes this recommendation from the UNCRC. We sincerely hope that the Swedish Government will see fit to change this outdated and anomalous piece of national legislation and at the same time amend the laws to permit the treatment of pregnant women and women in labour with CAM. It is quite wrong that people in such sensitive stages of their lives should be legally prevented from having access to the safe, gentle and effective options of CAM treatments when appropriate to their needs.
Reference: A Full copy of the report CRC/C/SWE/CO/4 can be downloaded from the Swedish section on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child web-site page at : http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/crcs51.htm
10 May 2009
Homeopathic pathogenetic trials (provings) produce specific symptoms different from placebo
Forsch Komplementmed. 2009 Apr; 16(2): 105-110 Mollinger H,
Schneider R, Walach H
Introduction: Homeopathy uses information gathered
from healthy volunteers taking homeopathic substances (pathogenetic
trials/provings) for clinical treatment. It is controversial whether such
studies produce symptoms different from those produced by placebo.
Objective: To test whether homeopathic preparations produce different
symptoms than placebo in healthy volunteers.
Methods: Three armed,
double-blind, placebo controlled randomised experimental pathogenetic
study in 25 healthy volunteers who took either one of two homeopathic
remedies, Natrum muriaticum and Arsenicum album in 30CH or identical
placebo. Main outcome parameter was the number of remedy-specific
symptoms per group.
Results: On average, 6 symptoms typical for
Arsenicum album were experienced by participants taking arsenicum
album, 5 symptoms typical for Natrum muriaticum by those taking natrum
muriaticum, and 11 non-specific symptoms by those in the placebo group.
Differences were significant overall (Kruskall Wallis test, p =
0.0002,) and significantly different from placebo (Mann-Whitney test, p
= 0.001).
Conclusion: Homeopathic remedies produce different symptoms
than placebo.
http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowAbstract&ArtikelNr=209386&Ausgabe=247634&ProduktNr=224242
ECCH Publishes a 2nd Edition of its Guidelines for Homeopathic Provings
After a process of revision ECCH has published a 2nd edition of its guidelines on carrying out homeopathic provings. It should be stressed that these are guidelines and that anyone intending to carrry out a full proving should read the references given in the document before doing so. A copy of the guidelines can be downloaded here:
ecch guidelines for provings.pdf
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