Green Paper on Ageing

The Commission's Green Paper on Ageing was published in 2021.

ECHAMP calls for the conscious integration of pluralism into the EU health and care system. An integrative approach to health can contribute to a vision for healthy and active ageing by improving health maintenance and health literacy, and supporting self-care and prevention of illness. It also offers more personal and financially sustainable treatment methods for chronic diseases.

As the incidence of chronic diseases continues to increase, their impact on an ageing population will also increase, especially in light of growing problems of multimorbidity, polypharmacy and adverse drug reactions – to which elderly people are particularly vulnerable.

• In one study, disease severity and quality of life demonstrated marked and sustained improvements following homeopathic treatment in patients who had been chronically sick for a long time before study entry and treated conventionally before in most cases.
• The body of evidence of research clearly suggests a potential role for homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine in healthy ageing and prevention of age-related disease, in reducing drug-load, reducing risk of adverse drug reactions and improving the mental health and wellbeing of individuals 65 years old and over[1].
• In addition, there is promising evidence for the role of homeopathy in supporting the management of age-related musculoskeletal and rheumatologic disorders such as back pain, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, as well as complaints associated with menopause.

Safe and affordable medicinal products can support people to live healthy and active lives as well as contribute to quality of life. Homeopathic and anthroposophic medicinal products may help to reduce the need for high-impact medical interventions and conventional prescription drugs as well as the long-term dependency on them at mostly low cost. 

Polypharmacy

A key public health challenge for Europe is to address the issue of inappropriate polypharmacy and non-adherence as the population ages, which in turn increases the risk of adverse drug reactions and side effects.

Studies show that homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine can help to reduce reliance on conventional drugs.

• Patients treated by certified homeopathic physicians[2] were less likely to be prescribed psychotropic drugs for sleep, anxiety and depressive disorders, reducing their usage and avoiding their addictive potential.
• Patients with musculoskeletal disorders treated with homeopathy did as well clinically as those treated with conventional medicine but used only half the amount of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and had fewer NSAID-related side effects[3].

[1] Danno et al. Management of Anxiety and Depressive Disorders in Patients ≥ 65 Years of Age by Homeopath General Practitioners versus Conventional General Practitioners, with Overview of the EPI3-LASER Study Results. Homeopathy 2018; 107(2):81-89

[2] Grimaldi-Bensouda, L. et al. Who seeks primary care for sleep, anxiety and depressive disorders from physicians prescribing homeopathic and other complementary medicine? Results from the EPI3 population survey. BMJ Open, 2012; 2

[3]Rossignol, M. et al. Impact of physician preferences for homeopathic or conventional medicines on patients with musculoskeletal disorders: results from the EPI3-MSD cohort. Drug Saf., 2012; 21: 1093–1101