September is the start of the new political and the new academic year. This year it’s a new start for ECHAMP too, as it heralds the arrival of our new Executive Manager, Per Engström. We welcome him to ECHAMP, where he will help lead the association into a challenging year, with the aim of putting a new and appropriate regulation for homeopathic and anthroposophic medicinal products firmly on the political agenda.

One of the elements of our advocacy work is to help educate politicians and decision makers in the benefits of homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine. There is increasing interest in the evidence base for these traditional European therapies, which stems in part from a wider debate about evidence based medicine. This issue of ECHAMP E-news seeks to respond to this debate: Robert Mathie sets the scene by summarising the nature of clinical research evidence in general, with specific comments about research in homeopathy and its challenges for the future; Peter Zimmermann provides an update of the evidence base for anthroposophic medicine. Both these therapies would benefit from more extensive research; the E-news also sets the EU context for further research and brings an update on CAMbrella, the pan-European research network on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) within the EU 7th Research Framework Programme. It is hoped that together these articles will help answer one of the questions that we are often asked – ‘but does it work?’

We wish our readers a successful return to work after the summer break.

Nand De Herdt
President of ECHAMP

The nature of clinical research evidence in homeopathy
Homeopathic medicine remains popular despite scepticism amongst a majority of scientists concerning its physiological mechanism of action. Given its widespread use, homeopathy is severely under-researched; the clinical research literature in homeopathy attracts polarised interpretation. Robert Mathie, Research Development Adviser at the British Homeopathic Association and Faculty of Homeopathy, summarises the nature of clinical research evidence in general, with specific comments about research in homeopathy and its challenges for the future.  Read more...

Anthroposophic medicine – a science based medical system
A significant body of research evidence shows that anthroposophic medicine is an effective approach to medicine, with a high level of safety and at a cost equal to or lower than conventional medicine. Peter Zimmermann, President of the International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations (IVAA), provides a round-up of research into anthroposophic medicine and a detailed list of references for further reading. Read more...

The EU and health research
Investing in research is an investment in the future. ECHAMP Public Affairs Consultant, Christine Marking, reviews EU progress in research and its current focus on health. She looks forward to future opportunities for EU research programmes to better address complementary and alternative medicine, including homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine. Read more...

CAMbrella – the story so far
Professor Wolfgang Weidenhammer and Monika Schagerl report on the progress so far of CAMbrella, the pan-European research network selected to carry out a project on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) within the EU 7th Research Framework Programme. Read more...