Health campaigners are mobilising supporters as fears grow that the Government is on the verge of abandoning its commitment to establishing a Statutory Register of Herbal Practitioners.
The Department of Health won’t comment on rumours of a U-turn on the measure that campaigners say is vital to protect consumers – through a register of qualified herbal practitioners – and preserve access to the widest range of herbal medicines, many of which have been lost or are severely restricted following implementation of the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive.
In February 2011 the former health secretary Andrew Lansley confirmed the Coalition’s commitment to establish a Statutory Register (SR), which would permit registered herbal practitioners to prescribe unlicensed herbal medicines from authorised third-party suppliers on a one-to-one basis.
Consumers for Health Choice (CHC) said: “Over the last few days we’ve heard from more than one Member of Parliament (MP) that there is a very real possibility that the Government will indeed renege on their commitment to introduce a statutory register of herbal practitioners. If allowed to go unchallenged, a Government U-turn will have devastating consequences for herbalists and the 8 million British citizens who use herbal preparations to stay healthy.”
” If allowed to go unchallenged, a Government U-turn will have devastating consequences for herbalists and the 8 million British citizens who use herbal preparations to stay healthy”
CHC’s director of strategy, Chris Whitehouse, added that “a direct and robust response should get the Government back on track. So we have emailed our database of hundreds of thousands of supporters asking them urgently to contact their MPs and giving them the tools to do so.”
Long-time CHC supporter Kate Hoey MP has also tabled Parliamentary written questions pressing the current secretary of state for health for a statement on statutory control for herbal practitioners and asking if the government will compensate small herbal suppliers for loss of business in the interim.
Meanwhile a joint letter from the Alliance for Natural health International (ANH-Int) and the European Herbal & Traditional Medicines Practitioners Association has been sent to the under secretary of state for health, Dr Daniel Poulter, requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the current status of SR.
ANH-Int executive director Robert Verkerk said: “The government’s promise appears to have come under a lot of pressure from the EU. Other Member States and European institutions like the European Commission and the European Medicines Agency don’t like the UK granting an exemption allowing herbalists to use unregistered herbal medicines as they see fit.”
Verkerk added: “On top of this, the coalition is under pressure from a small but noisy group of skeptics that have been responsible for persistent attacks against natural medicine, while also being devout advocates of GM crops and vaccinations. Some of these skeptics, like Lord Taverne, reside within the Coalition’s own party ranks, and at high levels.”
“On top of this, the coalition is under pressure from a small but noisy group of skeptics that have been responsible for persistent attacks against natural medicine, while also being devout advocates of GM crops and vaccinations”
Natural Products asked the Department of Health to clarify the situation on statutory registration for herbal practitioners and to confirm or deny claims that ministers are under pressure from officials and doctors’ groups not to go ahead with SR. The Department’s press office avoided answering the direct questions we put to it but issued this statement:
“The regulation of herbalists and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners has been a matter of debate for over 10 years. In February 2011 we announced our intention to regulate these practitioners, and since that time we have been working through the issues involved, including with other UK governments.
“This is a complex and lengthy process and we are not in a position to consult on the issue now. We need to make sure that whatever approach is taken addresses the potential risks to consumers as well as the needs of practitioners.”
