Can CAM Come in from the Cold? An Update on the Ongoing Regulatory Process with Regard to Herbal and Acupuncture Practitioners in the United Kingdom

Abstract

809 In September 2003, a report was published making recommendations for the statutory regulation of herbal practitioners in the United Kingdom (Herbal Medicine Regulatory Working Group, 2003). The 150-page report is the result of an in depth review by the Herbal Medicine Regulatory Working Group (HMRWG), set up in January 2002 by three stakeholders, the Department of Health, The Prince of Wales Foundation for Integrated Health, and the European Herbal Practitioners Association. The HMRWG comprises an independent chair and lay membership as well as delegates of the main professional bodies representing herbal medicine in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. The move toward statutory regulation of herbal practitioners originates from the House of Lords’ Select Committee on Science and Technology’s report Complementary and Alternative Medicine (House of Lords, 2002) and the U.K. Government’s response to it (Department of Health, 2001). The House of Lords’ report recognized that the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widespread and is increasing within the United Kingdom and across the world but that its lack of regulation has implications for patient safety. The Committee identified a considerable diversity of standards among U.K. CAM practitioners noting that the public could be at risk from practitioners with inadequate training. In particular, in the interests of patient safety and choice, it highlighted the need for professional herbalists and acupuncturists to be regulated as soon as possible. It also called for new regulations to be introduced ensuring the quality and safety of herbal medicines. After publication of the Select Committee’s report, the U.K. Government charged the HMRWG with the task of coming up with practical proposals to regulate herbal practitioners and the medicines they use. The Government also launched a second similar committee, the Acupuncture Regulatory Working Group, to report on the regulation of the acupuncture sector. Its report that has just been published (Acupuncture Working Group, 2003) makes proposals for the statutory regulation of acupuncturists working in the United Kingdom. The House of Lord’s Select Committee identified a key prerequisite permitting constructive regulation of emerging professions within the CAM sector. This is the development of a relatively unified profession able to engage in the process of statutory self-regulation. In the case of herbal medicine, the HMRWG was able to build on work carried out over a decade by the European Herbal Practitioners Association (EHPA) that had forged agreement among