Teachers Training Programme in Homeopathy by CCH
In addition to the ROTP programme by AYUSH Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH) has been decided to conduct Teachers Training Programme (TTP) in all the 12 subjects of BHMS, one programme for two days each of 4 sessions for all the teachers of UG Colleges separately.

These may be conducted in different zones/areas of the country. It has further been decided to make a panel of trainers out of the names to be collected from all such colleges subject wise and also from all the members of CCH. The trainers will be given 2nd AC train fare with DA, but if they are members of CCH TA/DA will be paid as for attending the council meetings.

CCH secretary Dr.Lalit Verma requested all those who wish to become a trainer/teacher should submit a detailed bio data including their experience and ability in the subject concerned to the CCH through head of the Institution.

India to recognise Foreign Medical Degrees
NEW DELHI:MARCH.10: The government on tuesday decided to recognise postgraduate medical degrees awarded in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.However, these degrees will be recognised on condition that they are recognised in the country from where it is obtained for enrolment of medical practitioners.

A notification to this effect was issued on March 10 under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956.India already recognises medical degrees of Myanmar, Italy, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Japan, and Hong Kong.

The government decision is intended to overcome the shortage of medical practitioners in the country. According to the Medical Council of India (MCI), the total number of registered allopathic doctors in the country is 6,83,582 with the population ratio working out to 1:1634. In addition, there are more than 6 lakh practitioners of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy in the country.

There are 271 medical colleges in the country, out of which 138 are in the government sector and the remaining 133 in the private sector. The MBBS students’ intake capacity of these colleges is about 31,172 and the number of seats available in various post-graduate medical courses is approximately 11,005 annually.

The Centre has decided to give recognition to acclaimed postgraduate medical degrees awarded in English speaking countries. This will not only facilitate Indian students to pursue their PG medical studies in these foreign countries but will also make them eligible to practise medicine in specialised fields back in India. In addition, there are many Indian citizens who are living abroad, possessing these foreign postgraduate medical degrees and are willing to return to India. Recognition of these degrees has now cleared the way for these Indians to come back and pursue their medical profession

Source : Homoeotimes
The BBC health http://www.bbc.co.uk  as removed all the alternative medicine pages from BBC Health web site. Due to so called complaints it had received about statements on these pages that were simply not true, The existence of these pages was just not compatible with the BBC’s commitment to accuracy.

According to them "the decision to remove the complementary medicine area of the health website was taken as part of a wider review of all the health content in order to enable the BBC to focus its efforts on creating new and exciting content.

In order to release resources for this redevelopment work, we’re reviewing existing content from an editorial and value-for-money perspective.The complementary health section was incomplete and, therefore, not of a satisfactory editorial standard.

It also represented a small proportion of traffic to the site but was disproportionately time-consuming. Therefore, the decision to take it down was based on a combination of factors: how much work it needed to maintain to a high editorial standard, how much this cost and how popular it was with site users. We have already removed other sections of the health site and plan to reduce or remove others.

We appreciate people are disappointed this area of the site has been removed and apologise if the decision has appeared abrupt to site users or inconvenienced other sites linking to BBC Health".

The BBC will continue to cover complementary health in other areas of its output, such as TV, radio and news programmes, and may reassess its complementary health content in future

Unfortunately the site now contains lot of anti homeopathy articles
Source : http://dcscience.net/?p=224

North Eastern Institute of Homeopathy. India
The Union Cabinet today approved the establishment of the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy in Shillong as an autonomous organization under the Department of AYUSH at a cost of Rs. 67.51 crore.

The decision will facilitate promotion of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy, the expansion of health care, improvement in the doctor-population ratio and R and D on bio-resources in the North East.

There are a total of 225 Ayurveda colleges and 181 Homoeopathy colleges in the country, out of which only one Ayurvedic College in Assam and three Homoeopathy colleges in Assam and Arunachal pradesh are in the North East.

There are no teaching institutions in other States of the North East, even though there is considerable demand for Ayurveda and Homoeopathic systems in North Eastern States.

Shillong is a central place in the north East where students and patients from the other North Eastern states can avail the facilities of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy in the proposed institute.
Source : www.medindia.net

Homeopathy more safe for chronic diseases WHO
The World Health Organization holds homeopathy as the second largest system of medicine in the world. According to surveys homeopathy experiences an annual growth of around 20-25 per cent. It is said that by 2017, the world homeopathy market would be equivalent to the current alternative healthcare market, currently fixed at Rs 52,000 crore.

Research was conducted to find out the potential of the industry through market study and a patient behavior analysis. The research conducted by AC Nielsen also highlighted the contribution of Dr Batra's Positive Health Clinics towards homeopathy. AC Nielsen carried out 650 interviews across seven cities . The subjects were a mix of people with certain specific characteristics. From the lot, 222 interviewees were regular allopathy users, 215 non-Dr Batra's homeopathy users and 213 Dr Batra's homeopathy users . The interviews were between November 2006 and April 2007.

The research gives that 51 per cent of the people suffering from chronic ailments try home remedies and 30 per cent prefer to leave it unattended. Around 26 per cent of people resort to medical intervention. Out of this, 47 per cent people visit their family doctor or a GP (general practitioner), 18 per cent resort to conventional treatments and 34 per cent visit a homeopath if their ailment is chronic.

Responding to this Dr Mukesh Batra, Chairman and Managing Director, Dr Batra's Positive Health Clinics Pvt Ltd. was quoted : "Approximately 81 per cent of people suffering from chronic ailments either self medicate or do nothing at all. This is a disturbing trend throughout the country. Homeopathy is often approached as a last resort when all other treatments have failed. Due to this, the duration of the treatment increases since the ailment reaches an advanced stage. In fact, 52 per cent people in Mumbai believe that homeopathy is safe."

Homeopathy consultation launched ahead of new regulatory body
Britain's largest professional association of homeopaths has launched a consultation in preparation for the UK's first independent single register and regulatory body for homeopaths. The new regulatory body is to govern the professional practice of an expanding number of homeopathy practitioners, divesting the Society of Homeopaths' self-regulation and governance arm from its membership and continuing professional development functions. The move follows the government's drive to improve the regulation of complementary and alternative healthcare.

The Society of Homeopaths' Chair designate, Jayne Thomas, said the start of this process "marks an important watershed in our profession. The consultation is to be widespread. "We are seeking the views of patients, other homeopaths, the many colleges and universities that train the professionals, other organisations in the homeopathy field, and of course politicians from all parties. Our purpose is to ensure that in moving towards one independent registering and regulatory body, we address all the issues and opportunities that our peers and our colleagues can identify".

She continued: "The resolution approved by the Board became viable after our consultation with the Department of Health and we are convinced that this big step forward will benefit patients, their families and the profession as a whole".
Source: http://www.managementinpractice.com

People living with HIV turn to homeopathy
The nondescript town of Maun in northern Botswana is often no more than a way-station on the road to the luxury safari camps of the Okavango Delta, a haven for wildlife and one of Africa's most popular tourist destinations.

For Hilary Fairclough, a former nurse from England, a visit to Maun while accompanying her partner on a work trip in 2000, planted the seed of an idea that has brought her back twice a year since then. She was stunned by the toll HIV/AIDS was taking on the Batswana, at a time when antiretroviral (ARV) drugs had yet to become available in the public health sector, and in 2002 she returned to find out if there was a demand among people living with HIV for her services as a trained homeopath.

Very few homeopaths practice in Botswana, and not many people in Maun had heard of this alternative form of medicine before her arrival, but the Maun Homeopathy Project, as it later became known, has since treated 1,500 HIV-positive people in the area. The service, which is free thanks to donations from the project's supporters in the UK, is provided by two volunteer homeopaths she recruits from the UK to spend three months at a time in Maun.

Many of the project's patients are now taking ARV medication, but report that the homeopathic remedies help them deal with the sometimes unpleasant side effects as well as opportunistic infections and depression, and improve general wellness.

"It's been really welcomed," Fairclough told. "People have been very open. I think they feel supported by us because we listen, but I believe the medicines also really help people."
Source: http://www.plusnews.org

Africa: Homeopathy is 'Not Effective'
Internationally, homeopathy faces cuts in state subsidies because of question-marks about its efficacy. South Africa should follow suit, as this complementary medicine is based on an "absurd premise", argues Dr. Mark Colvin

After a five-year trial, the Swiss Government recently withdrew health insurance coverage for homeopathy and four other complementary treatments because they did not meet efficacy and cost-effectiveness criteria. A few months ago, the West Kent local authority in the UK decided to stop British National Health Insurance (NHS) funding for the Tunbridge Wells Homeopathic Hospital because there was "not enough evidence of clinical effectiveness". NHS funding for the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital has also been cut.

Over the last 10 years there have been numerous reviews on the efficacy of homeopathy in international medical journals. The general conclusion is that the benefits of homeopathic medications are no more than that of placebos. In other words, any beneficial effects are explained by the psychological impact of the practitioner-patient relationship with no added value contributed by homeopathic pills.
This finding should come as no surprise because the very premise of homeopathy is absurd. In brief, its practitioners believe that, by infinitely diluting a chemical in water or alcohol, they are able to "potentize" the water such that it now has healing properties.

In western medicine, there is an understanding at a molecular level as to how most medications work. We know, for example, how insulin influences the uptake of glucose by our cell walls. We know how antibiotics attack the metabolic processes of bacteria and we know how antiretrovirals stop the replication of HIV. Why is it that over 200 years after the founding of homeopathy, homeopaths still cannot explain how any of their medications work and instead revert to vague and mysterious terms such as "succussion" and "potentizing"?
Adherents to western medicine are not resistant to complementary approaches to health care because, after all, many western medicines are derived from plants. But any claim to heal or alleviate symptoms must be proven by scientifically acceptable methods.
For example, the Chinese have been using an extract from the Artemisia annua plant to treat fevers for over 2000 years. Clinical trials have shown that this extract is an effective anti-malarial drug and we also know how it works against the malaria parasite at a molecular level. This drug is now an accepted form of treatment for malaria.

But the same cannot be said for homeopathy. Over 40 years ago an American, James Randi, offered US$ 100 000 (now swollen to 1 million dollars) to anybody who could show an effect using homeopathic medications under controlled conditions. His money is still safe, with not a single provable effect demonstrated to date.
Homeopathy is often used to treat conditions that typically have a cyclical nature such as many forms of arthritis, chronic dermatitis or asthma. With these diseases, any remission can be attributed to whatever treatment is being taken at the time -- whether it is a homeopathic medication or the chants of a shaman. In contrast, when faced with a life threatening illness such as insulin dependent diabetes, pneumonia or TB, even the most ardent homeopath will revert to western medications.
So if the very premise of homeopathy is nonsensical and there is no evidence of efficacy beyond a placebo effect, why is homeopathy accorded recognition by health authorities? In an era of "evidence-based medicine" and limited resources, why do we have government-subsidized schools of homeopathy at our health science faculties? Is it not time to drop the politically correct approach of being gentle on homeopathy and instead expose it for what it is?

Any new medication has to go through stringent evaluation before it can be sold on the market. Why not the same for homeopathic medications? Internationally there is a growing recognition that approaches that claim to have beneficial health effects must be substantiated scientifically. Maybe we should follow suit and seriously review the contribution that homeopathy and other forms of complementary medicine have, or do not have, towards improving human health.
* Colvin is Director of Maromi Health Research. He has 20 years experience in research into public health issues.
Source: http://allafrica.com

Fifth of NHS trusts turn away from homeopathy
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". He urged the 37% of PCTs which still had contracts for homeopathic services to cancel them. Peter Fisher, clinical director of the London Homeopathic hospital, said: "We are certainly having a difficult time... it's simply not true to say there's no evidence." Richard Hoey, deputy editor of Pulse, said: "If the NHS is now going to stop providing homeopathy, that needs to be a decision taken in the full glare of public debate, and not made in the committee rooms of cash-strapped trusts."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk 

Why Do Famous People and Cultural Heroes Use Homeopathy as Their Preferred Health care System?
With people becoming more aware of the dangers linked to taking prescribed drugs, attention is turning to the safer, natural therapies. Homoeopathy is a little known but highly effective form of natural health care. Because it is not widely known by the general public, Madeleine Innocent, a consultant homeopath in Western Australia, writes a free weekly e-zine to help increase people's awareness of homeopathy.

According to Dana Ullman's must read book The Homeopathic Revolution, Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy (http://www.homeopathicrevolution.com), numerous leading conventional physicians and scientists who have had extremely positive things to say about homeopathy include Sir William Osler (the "father of modern medicine"), Emil Adolph von Behring, MD (the "father of immunology"), Charles Frederick Menninger, MD (founder of the Menninger Clinic), August Bier, MD (the "father of spinal anesthesia"), C. Everett Koop, M.D. (former Surgeon General, U.S.), Brian Josephson, PhD. (Nobel Laureate & Cambridge professor).
At least eleven American Presidents used homeopathic medicines or sponsored legislation to allow homeopathic practice - Lincoln, Tyler, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, McKinley, Coolidge, Harding, Hoover, & Clinton, and two British Prime Ministers -Disraeli and Tony Blair.

Many of America's famous writers advocated for and often wrote about homeopathy, including Washington Irving, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Mark Twain. Many famous European literary artists did the same, such as Goethe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Alfred Tennyson, and George Bernard Shaw. Modern famous writers in favour of homeopathy include J.D. Salinger and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Numerous sports personalities have bragged about their use of homeopathic medicines including David Beckham, Martina Navratilova, Boris Becker, and many more. Many world-class musicians have greatly appreciated homeopathy including Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Frйdйric Chopin, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Cher, Tina Turner, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Townshend, Annie Lennox, Bob Weir, Paul Rodgers, Axl Rose, Moby, Jon Faddis, and Dizzy Gillespie.

Numerous movie and TV celebrities have benefited from homeopathy, including early stars such as Sarah Bernhardt, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne… and some of the modern-day stars, including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lesley Ann Warren, Pamela Anderson, Jane Seymour, Suzanne Somers, Lindsay Wagner, Michael York, Dr. Phil and Robin McGraw, Priscilla & Lisa Marie Presley, Jennifer Aniston, Jade Jagger, Tobey Maguire, and Orlando Bloom.
Charles Darwin sought care from a physician who treated him with both hydrotherapy (water-cure) and homeopathic medicines, which provided some significant relief of many symptoms that he never reported having again.

The Queen of England has her own homeopathic physician, Dr Peter Fisher, who wrote the forward to Dana Ullman's The Homeopathic Revolution.

"There have been two great revelations in my life; the first was bepop, the second was homoeopathy." Dizzy Gillespie
Why would all these well-known people publicly announce their personal use of homeopathy if it is not beneficial to their health? With over 200 years of clinical evidence to back up the efficacy of homoeopathy, and with a sound philosophy behind it, homeopathy is perhaps the only truly scientific health care modality in the world.
Source: http://www.pr-usa.net 

CCH President charged with illegal clearance to colleges
The CBI has filed a chargesheet against the Chairman of Bakson’s drugs and pharmaceuticals, who is also the president of the Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH), for allegedly regularising 37 homeopathy colleges after they agreed to buy drugs from his company. Bakson’s Drugs & Pharmaceutical Pvt Ltd runs 30 super specialty Homoeopathic Clinics throughout the country.

In a chargesheet filed in a city court on Monday the CBI has accused SPS Bakshi (55), son of a renowned homoeopath, Dr Kirpal Singh Bakshi, of abusing his official position as the president of CCH, a statutory body constituted under the provision of Homeopathy Central Council Act, 1973 and granting recognition to 37 colleges. The council gets grant-in-aid from Ministry of Heath and Family Welfare.
“The extension of recognition was granted to the colleges despite the fact that they did not meet minimum requirements for the bachelor course of Homeopathy”, said the chargesheet.

Bakshi refused to extend the recognition to Homeopathic Medical College, Hoshiarpur (Punjab), because Dr SP Anand, secretary of the college had refused to purchase medicines worth Rs 5 lakh manufactured by Bakshi’s company, the agency alleged. The CBI during the probe found that the said college met all the perquisite conditions for granting of sanction. On the other hand, Solan Homeopathy Medical College was granted permission despite not fulfilling the mandatory minimum requirement. It was later found one of the members of the college had bought drugs worth Rs nine lakh from Bakson’s drugs and pharmaceuticals.

A few years ago, Bakshi was reportedly arrested by Kolkata police on charges of selling homeopathic medicines mixed with steroids, without a licence from the state drug control directorate, in his clinic in Kolkata.

The agency has also accused CCH vice president Dr Ramjee Singh and secretary Dr Lalit Verma of getting into a criminal conspiracy together with Bakshi to grant recognition to colleges in violation of norms laid down by the Government of India.
Source : Naziya Alvi, Hindustan Times