Congratulations to the Voice of Young Science Network, a part of Sense About Science, whose open letter to the World Health Organization has received a response.
The letter, which is available here, called for the body to issue a clear international statement regarding the use of homeopathy in the developing world.
The WHO has done exactly that, and made it explicitly clear that where homeopathy is used as a preventative or treatment for HIV, TB, influenza, malaria and infant diarrhoea, lives are at risk. The office of Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO, has stated that the following responses “clearly express the WHO’s position”:
Dr Mario Raviglione, Director, Stop TB Department, WHO: “Our evidence-based WHO TB treatment/management guidelines, as well as the International Standards of Tuberculosis Care (ISTC) do not recommend use of homeopathy.”
Dr Mukund Uplekar, TB Strategy and Health Systems, WHO: “WHO’s evidence-based guidelines on treatment of tuberculosis…have no place for homeopathic medicines.”
Dr Teguest Guerma, Director Ad Interim, HIV/AIDS Department, WHO: “The WHO Dept. of HIV/AIDS invests considerable human and financial resources [...] to ensure access to evidence-based medical information and to clinically proven, efficacious, and safe treatment for HIV… Let me end by congratulating the young clinicians and researchers of Sense About Science for their efforts to ensure evidence-based approaches to treating and caring for people living with HIV.”
Dr Sergio Spinaci, Associate Director, Global Malaria Programme, WHO: “Thanks for the amazing documentation and for whistle blowing on this issue… The Global Malaria programme recommends that malaria is treated following the WHO Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria.”
Joe Martines, on behalf of Dr Elizabeth Mason, Director, Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development, WHO: “We have found no evidence to date that homeopathy would bring any benefit to the treatment of diarrhoea in children…Homeopathy does not focus on the treatment and prevention of dehydration - in total contradiction with the scientific basis and our recommendations for the management of diarrhoea.”
Cue the quacks and their attitude to science, which - given the above, is best described as TLDR. Dr. Sarah Holmes, president of the UK’s Faculty of Homeopathy, has said that “further research and investment into homeopathy” is needed.
Paula Ross, chief executive of the Society of Homeopaths, said that Sense About Science has “failed to do its homework,” mentioning that there is “a strong and growing evidence base for homeopathy,” and that the letter to the WHO was “just another poorly wrapped attempt to discredit homeopathy by Sense About Science.”
It’s alright Paula, we don’t need Sense About Science to discredit homeopathy. Your society’s intellectual dishonesty in the name of exploiting the vulnerable has got it covered.
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13 responses
This is great news. A similar letter stating the WHO’s position on Scientology would be welcomed as well.
http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect?currentPage=all
Maybe they could spend some time working out how to use more of this effect and get more people cured more quickly.
Paula Ross has stated that ‘Sense about Science’ had “failed to do its homework”. I think she is failing to live in the real world.
Why WHO is not recomended Homeopathy. Please send me in details.
homoeopath is effective medicine because of its only considered individuality of the patients and man as a whole and it treat the patient not the disease homoeopathy has principle first of all who needs to nderstand homoeopathic principle
Homeopathy is a scam, clear and simple. WHO recognise it, the medical community recognise it. There is absolutely no possibility that any effect is greater than placebo.
@Dr Velayutham. WTF! You reckon Homeopathy is an effective medicine and has principle!! Tell that to 9 month Gloria Sam whose parents Thomas and Manju basically tortured her to death. The kid got ezcama and if she had gone to a doctor it would not have been an issue…some topical cream, perhaps an antibiotic, and she would have been fine. Instead the misguided father decided that homeopathy was the only way to go. This “arrogant approach” by the father (as described by the Judge) cost Gloria her life. She was malnourished…not because she was underfed but because all her body was using all its energy to fight the infection. Doctors said that the skin over her entire body was infected, she was so malnourished her corneas had started to melt and she would have been in unbelievable pain. This may sound all very dramatic and horrible but it is the truth of what happens when people rely on quack, unproven medical theories that have been shown time and time again to have absolutley know benifical qualities. Everything about homeopathy is wrong, from its oversimplification of medical conditions, to its promotion of “magic” water which is so diluted that it actually contains no active ingredient. For the full details on Thomas Sam go to:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,,26135794-1702,00.html
Great news. And @Edgarr: in Holland a few years ago the same happened. A well known t.v. presenter with cancer, instead of going to a real doctor, confided in some kind of homeopathic quackery and died.
I always liked this BBC documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZhmG97lYog
What your all focusing on is the negitives of homeopathic, there is always two sides to every story and all that is being projected here is the negitives, lets have a look at the many people that relied on western medical interventions and died through, vaccination or through polypharmacy or neglegence. Homeopathic is viewed here as some evil. Probably by a bunch of people that don’t actually understand it and are so egotistical in their plite for western medicine they have missed the point here which is the overal professional care for the client. That is what is neglegent here not the service its self. A real health care professional will treat the person as a whole, including the possibility of western interventions, if a person is needing western intervention the professional will recommend it. I can only speak from the benefits I have experianced personally and professionally through energy medicine, Traditional medicine. The medicine that heeled people long before drugs were introduced. Plants-flowers and immune boosting properties. Do a little more research people and stop being so one sided.
this kind of criticism of homoeopathy were based on clinical trials which is not at all suitable to homoeo medicines and also no one homoeopath is consulted or allowed to take part in those studies.then how come any one can blindly blame homoeopathy.all the provings of medicines in homoeopathy done on healthy human beings and the symptom register is called MATERIA MEDICA.treatments were given upon selecting the medicine on individuality of the patients.homoeopathy witnessed many wonderful cures only by the treatment of qualified homoeopaths.homoeopathy have its own limitation which are taught to every homoeo medical students during their studies and also educated how to select uor own cases with in the limitations of homoeopathy.Any system in theworld will not survive for more than 200 years with placebos or magical water.if any one have more doubts consult a well qualified homoeopath near by and get cleared yourself.
Thank you Sathya for giving in concise form the various Catch 22’s of Homeopathy.
Of course those methods are uinsuitable for teating Homeopathic medicines; they get negative results.
Copout No. 2:
This is a wonderful escape hatch it in effect is designed to make Homeopathy test proof beccause the Homeopath can always say that the copurse of medicine was not specific for that individual. I should point out that asprin etc produce effects in people regardless of their “individual” condition whereas Homeopathy requires such absolute individuality that if that is not observed than there is no effect at all.
A standard trope in Homeopathic propaganda is that the creater the dilution the greater the effect. Isn’t it amazing that when sceptic drink massive amount of this super diluted water nothing happens, yet don’t try that with a bottle of Asprin!
Then we hear about the wonderful cures from actual practice. No clinical trials and of course only the allleged successes are remembered the many failures are not.
Homeopaths have generally utterly refused to take part in clinical trials and tthose that have have set such absurd condirtions that it would make the trials useless and or impossible.
You have no idea how utterly absurd that statement is. Of course systems of delusion and nonsense can survive for hundreds if not thousands of years. Take Astrology as simple one example.
i m a homoeopathic student. there is nothing more than placebo effect in homoeopathy…it has been proved also. pis ban this system whole world.
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