Tuesday, January 20, 2009

UK regulates complementary medicine

Maggie Dunn, co-chairman of the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council in the UK, wants to assure complementary health care consumers that the services they are receiving are "up to snuff." The industry, which is used by one in five people, as reported by the BBC, will now be asked to participate in a registry of practitioners, which the Council will oversee.

The registry will not judge clinics on therapeutic effectiveness. But, rather, they will evaluate business operations. Dunn told the BBC News website: "I think most of the profession is operating to good standards, but we know not everyone will be able to register.

"If that means that people who are not up to scratch are driven out of business, I will not cry for them."

Of the 150,000 estimated complementary medicine therapists working in the UK, Dunn said "she suspected between half and two thirds of them would make it on to the register, which would allow them to use the regulator logo on literature and display in shops."

CLICK HERE to read more about the register and regulator's standards.

© BBC News January 19, 2009: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7828593.stm

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