Switzerland Plans To Give Some Natural Therapies Equal Status

Recently, Switzerland's Interior Ministry has announced plans to give five disciplines of natural therapies equal status by May 2017 when it comes to health insurance. Homeopathy, holistic medicine, herbal medicine, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine are the deservingly lucky five, which includes practitioners like myself, as naturopathy is a holistic form of medicine which involves herbal medicine and sometimes homeopathy.



Rima Karaki, though this is something I also say.

Of course, I find this to be fantastic news! I want equality; I want to be respected; I want to be taken seriously - both my degree and physical autonomy, as well as that of my patients and the specialty of antiaging and longevity. Herbal medicine has worked for me and so has homeopathy, no individual or group is able to erase these facts. Those of a more belittling nature (I do not even speak to these types - either there is mutual respect or the conversation is over) rejected these therapies in 2005 with the excuse of "no scientific proof" (that we bothered to read). However, scientific research in natural therapies has increased dramatically since then, taking off soon after those statements, and in 2009 two-thirds of Swiss people backed their inclusion on the constitutional list of paid health services. As a result of the vote, all five of these therapies have been covered by the compulsory basic health insurance as a trial from 2012-2017. In a statement released on Tuesday, the ministry said that it was "impossible" to prove that these are or are not effective in their entirety (like pharmaceutical medicine, which is obvious if you actually listen to people instead of treating them like children), therefore they will be treated the same as other medical disciplines. There is a consultation process open until June 2016, but things are looking positive for the professional and bodily autonomy of myself and countless others. Hopefully Australia will soon follow, but if this goes ahead and if Switzerland had beaches and warmer weather, I'd definitely move there. It would be a great step forward for everyone, including my discipline of naturopathy and the specialty of antiaging and longevity.