PRESS RELEASE
EU grants nearly 1.5 million euros for complementary and alternative medicine research network
Brussels, 13 November 2009 The EU has awarded a grant of nearly 1.5 million euros to establish a research network for the study of complementary and alternative medicine under the EU Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7). This is the first time complementary medicine has received such a significant amount of EU funding.
A three-year project called CAMbrella – which stands for umbrella of research projects in Complementary and Alternative Medicine - will bring together 16 scientific organisations from 12 European countries to develop a comprehensive view of the current status of complementary medicine in Europe and recommendations that will serve as a starting point for future EU research activities. Several working groups will focus on patients' needs, legal conditions for the implementation of naturopathic treatments, and the role of complementary and alternative medicine treatments in health care systems, as well as on questions of terminology and methodology.
The project will begin in January 2010 and will be co-ordinated by the centre for complementary medicine research at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen. Project leader, Dr Wolfgang Weidenhammer, explains the importance of the project, “Public sponsorship or funding for research on complementary and alternative medicine is scarce in many European countries. The EU-funded project, CAMbrella, will play an important role in overcoming this deficit.”
65% of the European population report they have used complementary and alternative medicine; 30-50% use complementary medicine for self-treatment and 10-20% have seen a complementary medicine practitioner in the last year. 150 000 doctors in Europe have taken training in complementary medicine.
Nand De Herdt, President of ECHAMP, welcomed the announcement, saying. “We hope that this project will help the EU institutions to develop a better understanding of the increasingly important role complementary medicine plays in the lives of so many European citizens. There is an urgent need for these therapeutic approaches to be fully integrated into EU health policy.”

Notes for editors
1. Dr Weidenhammer, co-ordinator of CAMbrella, will be a keynote speaker at ECHAMP’s symposium in Brussels on 18 November, ‘Homeopathy and Anthroposophic Medicine – Is EU legislation fit for purpose?’ on the topic ‘Research into Complementary Medicine in Europe’.

2. ECHAMP is the European Coalition on Homeopathic and Anthroposophic Medicinal Products and represents the vast majority of the industry for these products in Europe. ECHAMP believes that homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine should be fully integrated into health care provision in Europe and works towards an appropriate European legal and regulatory framework to ensure the easy availability of the full range of these medicinal products, essential for the successful practice and development of these traditional therapies. www.echamp.eu

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