WHO Recognition for Homoeopathy.


WHO recognition for homeopathySunday December 25 2005 00:00 IST
 
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Deviating from the trend of rejecting homeopathy treatment and medicine as mere placebos, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that homeopathy is the second-most used medical system internationally.

“Clinical trials have proved that this method of treatment has been successful if the practitioners have taken into account the individual holistic nature of the patient before opting for homeopathy,” says Dr T N Sreedhara Kurup, assistant director in charge of the Central Research Institute for Homeopathy.

Different patients will receive different treatments for the same disease making it difficult to conduct randomised control trials, he said.

“Homeopathy is that stream of medicine which prescribes medicines suitable to the individual and the cost of treatment is affordable when compared to allopathy. Besides, it is claimed that homeopathic medicines are devoid of any harmful side-effects,” says Dr Ravi M Nair, a homeopathy specialist.

About 50 crore people rely on homeopathy treatment in the world. As a system of medicine, it draws support from over lakhs of doctors, teaching institutions and universities where homeopathy is taught.

Research centres and manufacturing units with focus on developing newer drugs for treatment of diseases provide ample proof that homeopathic medicines are not mere placebos, Nair said