More priority must be given to homeopathy

The first EU Homeopathy Day was celebrated in Brussels on 10 April, with the theme 'Homeopathy for a healthier Europe'. It celebrated homeopathy as a worldwide medical system with its roots in Europe and commemorated the founder of homeopathy, German physician Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). The date was chosen to coincide with Hahnemann’s birthday and the start of World Homeopathy Awareness Week.

The aim of the day was to raise awareness amongst politicians and decision makers in Brussels of the important role homeopathy can play in European healthcare. It was a joint initiative of the European associations of patients, practitioners, doctors and pharmacists of homeopathy and the European homeopathic industry association, with a special event and reception at the Saxony Liaison Office in Brussels, Saxony being the region of Germany where Hahnemann was born, in the city of Meissen.

Ms Ria Oomen-Ruijten MEP (EPP/ED) opened the reception. She fully recognises that over 100 million European citizens trust in this field of medicine. Speaking at the reception, she said, “The European Commission and the European Parliament should pay more attention and align their interest to the important role homeopathy plays in the daily lives of so many Europeans.”

Other speakers included Prof Dr Robert Jütte from the Institute for the History of Medicine of the Robert Bosch Foundation in Stuttgart, whose well- documented history of homeopathy in Europe emphasised the deep roots of this long-standing European tradition. Dr Michel Van Wassenhoven from the Unio Homoeopathica Belgica, research coordinator of the Liga Medicorum Homeopathica Internationalis (LMHI) and the European Council for Homeopathy (ECH) spoke about the evidence base of homeopathy. “Good policy must be based on good science,” he said. “The level of evidence is sufficient to allow promotion of homeopathy for public health.”

It is intended that EU Homeopathy Day will become an annual event, helping to put homeopathy more firmly on the EU political agenda.