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Latest News  (last updated 18th August 2010)
Campaign to achieve statutory regulation

TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR US!

Please support our campaign to gain statutory regulation which will save herbs and the practice of herbal medicine in the UK.

We urge the Government to act now so that tens of thousands of people who rely on Chinese herbal medicine can continue to receive the high-quality treatment and herbal medicines that they need.

From April 2011, a new EU law will mean that even fully qualified Chinese medicine practitioners will lose access to the majority of the herbs and medicines on which they rely. Many herbs and medicines will only be available to medical professionals who are regulated by the Government, such as GPs. Many practitioners will go out of business, and their patients will not be able to receive the treatment that they need. Consumers who have safely accessed herbal medicines for years will be forced to buy from unsafe internet sites or from bogus back-street practitioners.

The new government can prevent this by granting STATUTORY REGULATION to Chinese medicine practitioners.

At present, anyone can call themselves a Chinese medicine practitioner and treat the public. They do not have to be qualified or competent and yet they have access to powerful herbal medicines.

In February 2010, the Old Bailey heard how a civil servant suffered cancer and kidney damage after taking a banned medicine sold by a Chinese medicine shop. The regulation of Chinese medicine practitioners would protect the public from such cases of malpractice.

Despite widespread support for regulation, the last Government failed to act.

Indeed, last year, the Department of Health conducted a public consultation on the regulation of practitioners of acupuncture, herbal medicine and traditional Chinese medicine.  The consultation closed in November 2009, and more than 6,500 responses were received.  As the Government itself says "The high response rate is a testament to the strength of feeling about public access to complementary and alternative medicines."

However, the results of the public consultation have yet to be published and the new Government has not yet made a decision about whether to grant statutory regulation for herbal medicine practitioners. Regulation would ensure that all practitioners are trained to national standards and have professional insurance.

How you can help

Please write to Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, using our template letter in its entirety or as a guide for your own personalised letter
Email: lansleya@parliament.uk
Mail: Department of Health, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London SW1A 2NS

and

Contact your MP, using our template letter in its entirety or as a basis for your own personalised letter
For your MP’s name and address call: 020 7219 4272 orr visit http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/


You can also become a Fan of the Facebook campaign page and ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thank you!

Bill Gates gives £7m to anti-malarial herbal research
Research into the herb Artemesia annua, or Sweet Annie has been boosted by £7m by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. The anti-malarial drug artemisinin is derived from the herb and research into a fast-track breeding programme in on-going at the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP), part of York University's biology department. Malaria kills more people than any other disease in the world.

The herb is also known as Sweet Wormwood, or qinghao, and was used by Chinese herbalists in ancient times to treat fever, but had fallen out of common use, to be rediscovered in 1970 when the Chinese Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency Treatments (340 AD) was found. This pharmocopeia contained recipes for a tea from dried leaves, prescribed for fevers (not specifically malaria). In 1971, scientists demonstrated that the plant extracts had antimalarial activity in primate models, and in 1972 the active ingredient, aremisinin (formerly referred to as arteannuin ), was isolated and its chemical structure described.   Mosquito © Gregorius Gp Buir - FOTOLIA

Because of increasing resistance to cheaper drugs such as chloroquine, fifty-one countries use artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) for treating malaria. The cost of production is high, however, because the yield in Artemesia annua is low even in the best varieties, and the rapid adoption of ACTs has created a shortage, which has driven up the price of artemisinin.

CNAP aims to create new, non-GM Artemesia annua cultivars with increased yield of artemisinin to reduce the cost and secure a supply, making combination therapies cheaper and accessible for people who have malaria.

 "Malaria is robbing Africa of its people and potential," Mr Gates said.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting three international projects over five years.



Approved Suppliers Scheme gains new member
The RCHM's Approved Suppliers Scheme has gained a new member, bringing the total number of suppliers participating in the scheme up to ten. The scheme was launched in 2004 and is the only one of its kind in the UK.  

Carthamus tinctorius   Tony Booker, President of the RCHM said "We are delighted that the scheme has taken off in such a positive way. Members of the RCHM using Approved Suppliers can be assured that their herbal supplies have come from a reputable source, from a company that has committed itself to a programme of quality development."  

The MHRA (formerly MCA) have welcomed the RCHM initiative to create this list and have indicated that they are keen to work with the RCHM and its members to make sure that the scheme continues. Chinese herbal medicine has been hampered in recent years by incidences of poor practice and the Approved Suppliers Scheme is part of restoring public faith in what is an extremely effective and safe form of medicine, when practiced correctly.