An important initiative in Germany has been promoting an open dialogue between representatives of conventional and complementary medicines since 2000 with the aim of contributing to improved patient care. Prominent medical doctors actively involved in the ‘Dialogue Forum for Pluralism in Medicine’ include the President of the German Doctors’ Association Professor J-D Hoppe, and the Berlin Charité’s Professor Willich.

For the first time, on 23 and 24 January 2008, a full scale Federal German Dialogue Conference in Berlin was dedicated to the subject of a person-oriented individualised medicine. The event considered the increasing impact of external requirements on medical practice, such as technical requirements and information technology, economic changes in social health and insurance management, and the widespread regulation by guidelines which incorporate the logic of “evidence based medicine” (EBM). 

The aim was to show how individualised medical care can actually be secured and enhanced by taking advantage of the inevitable adaptation of health care to economic and technical developments and by strengthening the position and autonomy of medical doctors and patients despite the increasing limitations by state regulation.

Participants included journalists, prominent representatives of academic circles from all directions, health politicians and parliamentarians, representatives from regional and federal MD chambers and associations, from insurance companies and pharmaceutical industry as well as prominent researchers and historians. Thoughtful presentations and lively debate, including vivid panel discussions with parliamentarians, pointed to a number of severe deficiencies in the German health system and in medical education. There was consensus in a number of issues that needed the attention of health politicians:

- improve preventive care; thereby creating improved economics for better  
  medical care and individualised medicine

- improve continuing education as one of the most pressing issues; create 
  funding to finance continuing education and thereby avoid doctors going 
  abroad

- improve deregulating action and transparency

For a more detailed summary of the conference, please contact administration@echamp.eu. The Dialogue Forum is planning a further event, ‘European Congress for Integrative Medicine’, in November 2008 in Berlin which will include an international day as well as a day for patients, including a health care exhibition. Further information can be found shortly at www.ecim-congress.org.