European manufacturers, physicians and patients demand in madrid better regulation of homeopathy.

-Spanish patients increasingly demand more effective medicines without the side effects of conventional

Madrid, April 2010- manufacturers, doctors, pharmacists and patients from all over Europe, grouped around the Organization ECHAMP, gathered in Assembly in Madrid, ending the legal vacuum that there is the European Union on homeopathic and anthroposophical. The European Coalition of homeopathic medicinal products and anthroposophical (ECHAMP, for its acronym in English), brings together 52 pharmaceutical laboratories of 17 Member States of the EU Norway, national manufacturers and European and international associations of doctors, patients and pharmacists.

In Spain, as in other countries of the Union just approved homeopathic medicines and anthroposophical, while 100 million Europeans use them, explains Ferdinand Herdt, ECHAMP President. There is no legislation in the EU since 1992, but only in countries where there was an old system of registration of homeopathic medicinal products continued assessing registration records. Others, the vast majority, even began ”. Since 2005 can be mutual recognition of products among States members through the simplified registration procedure. However, the application dossiers accepted in a State are often rejected in another because of administrative obstacles that make the process very complicated and expensive ”, emphasizes De Herdt, who advocates a true unified rules and taking into account the different operation of this kind of drugs.

At the end of 2006, in Spain the volume of sales (in factory) of these treatments represented more than 50 million euros, according to data from the ECHAMP. On the other hand, according to the Ipsos health consultant, 15 percent of the Spanish population are already using these treatments and 25 percent would be interested to try it out. For Max Daege, President of the Assembly which meets in Madrid, there is a growing interest in homeopathy since patients increasingly demand more treatments that do not have the side effects of conventional medicines ”.

Nearly 180,000 physicians have been trained in one of the specialties of complementary medicine, and homeopathy, according the ECHAMP is in most cases. In Spain, about 3,000 doctors in primary care, 2,000 pediatricians and 4,360 optional other specialties include traumatologists and otorrinos, prescribed homeopathic remedies, according to data from the Association for the study of Biorreguladora medicine (Asembior).
Education of homeopathic medicine as bioregulador system can be obtained in studies postgraduate courses at the universities of Seville, Valladolid, Murcia, Barcelona and Madrid (Complutense). There are also centres of education in Bilbao and Málaga.

Homeopathic medicines and anthroposophical governing the Royal Decree (1345 / 2007), containing provisions for the implementation of the law of medicine 29, 2006, on the authorisation, registration and conditions of delivery of medicines for human use. For homeopathic medicines and anthroposophical has not yet issued a decree to complete Spanish legislation ”, says De Herdt.

Asembior

Asembior is a non-profit aimed at the dissemination and the study of medicine as a system of biofeedback, open to the participation of the health professionals. Its Board of Directors has specialists in paediatrics, toxicology, internal medicine and Ent.