A report from the Australian National Health Council concludes that homeopathy is ineffective and calls for a review of the uses of this controversial medicine.
Homeopathy, dust in the eyes? This is what asserts a report produced by an Australian government agency, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Its conclusions will not fail to exasperate followers of the cause, while one in two French people consume these substances, according to an Ifop poll.
The report is indeed a blow to homeopathy. Its authors have reviewed 225 studies on the effectiveness of small white granules, conducted in several countries – Australia, France, United Kingdom, etc.
“A sugar pill”
Their observation is unequivocal: homeopathy is useless. “No reliable evidence” establishes that it is more effective than “a pill of sugar”, write the researchers, who assure that the studies on the subject are all biased.
Worse, according to them: this medicine could prove to be dangerous, “if the people who choose homeopathy reject or delay the treatments which have, them, proved their safety and their effectiveness”.
“Reconsider sale and use”
Members of the National Health Council hope that “many reasonable people will reconsider the sale and use of its substances”, and will be inspired by the English case, where consumption has declined since 2010, following a report of the House of Commons concluding that homeopathy is ineffective.
“Some people will argue that this [nouveau] The report is the result of a conspiracy by the establishment, ”predicts Paul Glasziou, one of the authors, aware of the at least mixed reactions that it risks arousing and that it has probably already suffered. In April 2014, the NHMRC produced a very similar report, covering almost 350 studies and leading to the same conclusions.
The Australian Homeopathy Association has effectively questioned the methods used by the NHMRC. Quoted by the British newspaper The Guardian, its members explain that the study criteria are those of traditional medicine, and that they are unsuitable for judging the effectiveness of homeopathy. They call for a “more complete approach”, including its medico-economic benefits.
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