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WHO Releases New Guidelines to Promote Proper Use ofAlternative Medicines
July 19, 2004
2 Min Read
WHO Releases New Guidelines to Promote Proper Use ofAlternative Medicines
GENEVAThe World HealthOrganization (WHO) released a new set of guidelines for national healthauthorities to help promote the proper use of alternative medicines byconsumers. The guidelines were developed in response to the dramatic increase inadverse reactions, which, according to WHO (www.who.int), have more than doubledin three years.
The new guidelines provide practitioners easy-to-follow tipson issues to watch out for and a brief checklist of basic questions to use whichmay help facilitate the proper use of traditional and alternative medicines,helping consumers maximize benefits and minimize risks. WHO supportstraditional and alternative medicines when these have demonstrated benefits forthe patient and minimal risks, said Dr. Lee Jong-wook, director-general of WHO. But as more peopleuse these medicines, governments should have the tools to ensure allstakeholders have the best information about their benefits and their risks.WHO warns, however, that the new guidelines cannot compensate for poor productsor inappropriate practices.
Possible consumer risks associated with improper use ofalternative medicines include use of suspect or counterfeit products, selection of inappropriate therapieswhen self-medicating, unintentional overdosing, unintentional injury byunqualified practitioners, and failure to inform physicians about the use oftraditional and complementary medicines. According to WHO, the new guidelinescan help minimize such risks by doing the following:
providing policies governments could put in place;
ensuring consumers are provided with sufficientinformation on the efficacy, safety and contraindications of products;
establishing the appropriate channels for consumers toreport adverse drug reactions, and making those channels known;
organizing communication campaigns to equip consumers withthe ability to discern the quality of service they receive;
ensuring practitioners are appropriately qualified andregistered;
encouraging interaction between traditional andconventional practitioners; and providing insurance for non-conventionaltherapies and products with sound bases of evidence.
The guidelines also suggest possible health system structuresand processes with potential to promote better quality of alternative medicinesand safety of their use, including:
development of quality standards and treatment guidelinesto ensure uniformity within a particular health system;
standardization of training and knowledge requirements forpractitioners to promote credibility of traditional or alternative practices andenhance consumer trust;
collaboration between conventional and traditional orcomplementary care providers to improve results of treatment and promote healthsector reform; and organization of traditional or alternative medicinepractitioners to provide better structures for self-control mechanisms.
The WHO guidelines were developed with data collected from 102countries representing all WHO regions.
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