Dubai: A health conference held on Homeopathy and Integrative Medicine and health care on Friday, under the aegis of Dubai Health Authority, highlighted the rising significance of natural medicines and therapeutics in primary health care services.
The aim of the conference was to bridge the gap in the understanding of treatment concepts and to emphasise the importance of methodical documentation of evidences for such therapies in clinical practice. Some of the topics covered during the day included research in clinical homeopathy, homeopathic prescribing methodology in eczema, and the role of complementary medicine in reducing antimicrobial resistance.
Speaking on the day, Dr Peter Fisher, director of Research and Consultant Physician at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (RLHIM), accredited in homeopathy and rheumatology highlighted the role of integrated medicine in managing diseases like rheumatology. The RLHIM is part of University College London Hospitals, and is Europe’s largest public sector centre for integrated medicine. Dr Fisher is also Physician to the Queen of England.
Dr Esther van der Werf, from the Centre for Academic Primary Care, at the University of Bristol covered two interesting topics during the course of the day. She first covered the important question of whether complementary and alternative medicine can help solve the problem of antimicrobial resistance and reduce common infections in primary care.
Her second presentation focused on the question if fever can work as a key to integrate homeopathy and conventional medicine for common primary care infections, giving evidence to her findings and discussing the conclusions with the audience.
The practice of complementary and alternative medicines has been regulated by the Ministry of Health over the past decade and its origin dates back to late 1980s when through the directive of Shaikh Zayed, the Abu Dhabi Herbal Centre came to existence as a model for integrative medicine. There are currently over 100 licensed homeopaths practising in the UAE, mainly in Dubai and Sharjah.
