Boost for Health Food Industry

Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain, has given support to the health food industry by claiming that complimentary medicine should be offered to patients as well as, or instead of, mainstream medicine. He says that the focus should be on the recovery of the patient only, and not on a monopoly of either medicine. Whichever form of medicine works for the patient, should be offered and tried.Mr. Hain said: "I believe this will make for better health and will ultimately reduce costs to the NHS by encouraging patients to take on a greater role in protecting their own health," he told a conference of experts at the Prince of Wales's Foundation for Integrated Health at St James Palace, London. Mr Hain, a firm advocate of greater use of complementary medicine himself, said the public had becme more and more receptive to its benefits, turning to them in their millions.

"That is why the work of the Prince of Wales Foundation is so welcome. His Royal Highness has long provided impressive leadership in the debate over complementary therapies and how they can work hand-in-hand with conventional treatments." Mr Hain said no-one was suggesting that complementary healthcare should somehow supplant conventional treatments. "For many serious diseases, like cancer, only conventional therapies are powerful enough to provide the life-saving treatment that such seriously ill patients require," he said."But complementary therapies, used in conjunction with conventional medicine, can both aid recovery and enhance the overall wellbeing of the patients."For example, if you break your leg, you will need surgery, but taking mineral supplements and homeopathic remedies as well can support the healing process and enhance the effectiveness of conventional treatment. It is the recognition that both sectors can co-exist that we must seek to build on, with the patient the winner. It is also vital that those of us who advocate greater use of complementary treatments are not seen to be pushing any and every alternative treatment on offer. The fact is that complementary medicine still has an image problem.

Too many people still dismiss those of us who use such treatments as wackos and pill-poppers, while practitioners are branded as quacks and confidence tricksters. This is a perception we must tackle head on. I would certainly never advocate the squandering of public money on so-called treatments that have no proven benefits and which take money away from existing therapies that are shown to work. Complementary medicine can only play a role in the NHS if it can be shown to benefit patients. But at the same time, critics of complementary medicine also need to change their attitude. The growing popularity of such treatments is ultimately down to the fact that they deliver real benefits and because patients welcome an approach which treats them holistically as a person, looking at their individual needs and not just the symptoms.

Conventional medicine needs to take this on board and stop being in denial," said Mr Hain."Thankfully, we are already seeing encouraging signs of progress. One in five Britons, myself included, now uses complementary health care; nearly half the GP practices in England provide some kind of access to complementary health care; and there are now nearly 50,000 complementary medicine practitioners. As Secretary of State for Wales, I am also delighted that the Welsh Assembly Government is looking into opportunities to support complementary therapies within the NHS in Wales. Working closely with the Department of Health and the Prince's Foundation, they are promoting a guide for patients on complementary health care across Wales.

In March this year, they launched, with the Foundation's support, the Complementary Treatment Award Scheme for Wales, which aims to recognise the best examples of integrated healthcare. At a primary care level, the Assembly is looking to build on its ability to gather evidence of effectiveness of complementary therapies by working with representatives of the professionals in the field. I am delighted that several GPs from Wales are with us today as a result of this initiative and I hope that these strong foundations will be built upon, both in Wales and the rest of the UK. Much more work needs to be done.

If we are to continue to make progress in integrating complementary medicine into existing healthcare provision, there is a clear need for further research. I welcome the Foundation's role in providing this and congratulate the Department of Health for its £900,000 grant. It is also essential that we carry out further studies into the effectiveness of such treatments. If we are to win over the sceptics, we need more hard evidence that complementary medicine works, to back up the huge amounts of anecdotal and other evidence that it delivers a real benefit. But this shouldn't be a question of conventional versus complementary treatments. It is a question of being open-minded about each tradition's value and contribution and of working in partnership. Ultimately the future will be driven by the patients. And patients want real choice: the best of both worlds, combining the benefits of both complementary and conventional treatment," said Mr Hain.