"However, it is regrettable that an organisation such as the World Health Organization appears willing to promote the incorporation of traditional and other medicines into mainstream practice by leaning heavily on emotive language heritage, tradition, and the sharing of local resources rather than on clinical evidence. Then it appears to contradict itself by saying that it doesn't support it if there isn't robust and reliable evidence."
"The difficulty seems to lie in a misunderstanding of what medicine is. Medicine should be understood as a single enterprise: evidence-based medical practice, with patient safety and effectiveness at its core. It should not be fragmented into categories such as biologic, traditional or complementary medicine. Mainstream medicine does not, as implied, dismiss treatments simply because they originated in traditional practice. On the contrary, interventions such as tai chi, yoga and many plant-derived drugs have been readily adopted once rigorous clinical trials demonstrated their safety."
The World Health Organization appears to favour promoting traditional and other medicines by invoking heritage, tradition, and local resource sharing rather than prioritising clinical evidence. The organisation's statements seem inconsistent when it also asserts support only where robust, reliable evidence exists. Medicine should be framed as a unified, evidence-based enterprise focused on patient safety and effectiveness, not divided into biologic, traditional, or complementary categories. Mainstream medicine accepts practices of traditional origin when rigorous clinical trials demonstrate safety and effectiveness. What is rejected are unproven claims and practices that risk harm or seek back-door entry into clinical care.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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