EU awards €1.5 million grant for CAM research
A pan-European consortium of researchers has been selected to carry out a project on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) within the EU 7th Research Framework Programme. Known as CAMbrella, the consortium includes researchers from complementary medicine departments at various universities across Europe, including the Charité University of Berlin, Technical University of Munich, University of Bern, University of Zürich, University of Southampton, University of Southern Denmark in Odense, University of Tromsø, and other institutions such as the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome, Dos Hermanas Clinic in Sevilla, and the International Academy for Holistic Medicine in Vienna.
The expected EU contribution will be €1 498 598. The aim of this project is to develop a road map for future European research into complementary medicine, appropriate to the health care needs of EU citizens, and acceptable to the European Parliament, as well as their national research funders and health care providers. The specific objectives are to develop an EU network involving centres of research excellence for collaborative research, to develop consensus-based terminology widely accepted in Europe to describe complementary medicine interventions, to create a knowledge base that facilitates understanding of patient demand for complementary medicine and its prevalence, to review the current legal status and policies governing complementary medicine provision in the EU and to explore the needs, beliefs and attitudes of the EU citizens with respect to CAM. Based on this information, a road map will be created that enables the EU to sustain and prioritise future research into complementary medicine.
These overall objectives will be achieved within 3 years. The project will involve all the major European stakeholders in the field of CAM, including consumers, practitioners, clinical providers, and manufacturers of complementary medicinal products. The outcomes generated will be disseminated through the CAMbrella website, peer review publications and a final conference, with emphasis on current and future EU policies, addressing the different target audiences with an interest in CAM.
