Mouthpiece: Regulation is vital for herbalists

Published on Saturday 14 November 2009 10:19

ON TUESDAY "Save Our Herbs" campaigners gathered outside the Scottish Parliament, determined to make our voice heard.

The Department of Health is running a consultation to find out whether people think that traditional medicine practitioners should be regulated or not. Because of EU legislation which comes into force in April 2011, we will have to be regulated in order to access the herbal medicines we have trained to use. If we do not achieve statutory regulation, your access to traditional medicines will be seriously limited.

But we can do something about this. The consultation is still open and you can make your voice heard.

There are 24 questions and some are a bit tricky. Don't be daunted, give it a go. At the very least answer question 24 and tell the government in your own words that you wish to preserve your right to access the medical tradition of your choice.

The only way this can happen now is for statutory regulation of traditional medicine practitioners to go ahead. Regulation will also mean that you will be able to identify practitioners who are fully qualified and operating to a strict code of ethics.

Voluntary registers, such as NIMH, require members to have an honours degree in Herbal Medicine, a minimum of 500 hours of clinical training and undertake continuing professional development. However, these will not be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the 2011 EU legislation. In order to supply certain medicines, traditional medical practitioners will have to be considered "authorised healthcare professionals".

MSPs met their constituents on Tuesday to find out more about the issues. Make your voice heard and respond to the consultation at www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_103567. There is a direct link on our website www.saveourherbs.co.uk.

Claire Mullan is a co-ordinator for the Save Our Herbs Scotland campaign