Homoeo Info

Over a fifth of NHS hospital trusts have cancelled or reduced funding of homeopathy in the past two years, after a campaign by leading scientists to remove the alternative therapy from the NHS.
In two open letters to primary healthcare trust managers in May last year, the scientists lambasted homeopathic remedies because they lack a robust scientific basis: "We must consider the cultural and social damage of maintaining as a matter of principle expenditure on practices which are unsupported by evidence."
Homeopathy remedies involve diluting active substances so that there is not a single molecule of the original chemical left. Practitioners refer to a "memory" left in the water. But the signatories - which included a Nobel prize winner and six fellows of the Royal Society - say there is no convincing evidence that homeopathy works any better than a placebo. A survey by Pulse magazine has found that 22% of PCTs have reduced or cancelled spending on homeopathy in the last two years. The Royal London Homeopathic hospital is facing difficulties after eight trusts cancelled contracts over the past year and a further six reduced referrals.
Michael Baum, emeritus professor of surgery at University College London, who signed one of last year's letters, described homeopathy as "cheap and nasty medicine" and a "cruel deception". James Randerson, science correspondent/Guardian Unlimited, UK , Jan 30, 2008

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