This is the first book to address public health issues in traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM). It presents state-of-the-art reviews of TCAM research in a range of priority public health areas such as malaria and HIV and in such common ailments as skin conditions and orthopedic injury in developing countries. Contributions analyze policy trends in areas such as financing of TCAM and education and training in this field as well as selected case studies of model TCAM projects. Important chapters on research methodology, ethical and safety issues, and intellectual property rights pertaining to traditional medicine are also presented. Public financing for TCAM is a test of the commitment of governments, and the book includes an analysis from the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Atlas data of the worldwide trends in this area. With safety concerns foremost in the minds of both policy makers and the public, the book offers a global overview of policy and legislative trends in this field as well as an important set of guidelines for pharmacovigilance and TCAM products. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Introduction (1,729 KB). Contents: Foreword (Allan Rosenfield); Policy: Introduction (Gerard Bodeker & Gemma Burford); Policy and Public Health Perspectives on Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: An Overview (Gerard Bodeker, Fredi Kronenberg & Gemma Burford); Financing Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Health Care Services and Research (Gemma Burford, Gerard Bodeker & Chi-Keong Ong); Training (Gerard Bodeker, Cora Neumann, Chi-Keong Ong & Gemma Burford); Safety: Issues and Policy (Gilbert Shia, Barry Noller & Gemma Burford); Pharmacovigilance of Herbal Medicines: A United Kingdom Perspective (Joanne Barnes); Medicinal Plant Biodiversity and Local Healthcare: Sustainable Use and Livelihood Development (Gerard Bodeker & Gemma Burford); Home Herbal Gardens OCo A Novel Health Security Strategy Based on Local Knowledge and Resources (G Hariramamurthi, P Venkatasubramanian, P M Unnikrishnan & D Shankar); Humanitarian Responses to Traditional Medicine for Refugee Care (Cora Neumann & Gerard Bodeker); Public-Private Partnerships: A Case Study from East Africa (Patrick Mbindyo); Public Health Issues: Priority Diseases and Health Conditions: Malaria (Merlin L Willcox & Gerard Bodeker); HIV/AIDS: Traditional Systems of Health Care in the Management of a Global Epidemic (Gerard Bodeker, Gemma Burford, Mark Dvorak-Little & George Carter); An Overview of Clinical Studies on Complementary and Alternative Medicine in HIV Infection and AIDS (Jianping Liu); Skin and Wound Care: Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Public Health Dermatology (Gemma Burford, Gerard Bodeker & Terence J Ryan); Traditional Orthopaedic Practices: Beyond OCyBonesettingOCO (Gemma Burford, Gerard Bodeker & Jonathan Cohen); Research: Clinical Trial Methodology (Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, Urmila Thatte & Jianping Liu); Ethical Issues in Research (Merlin L Willcox, Gerard Bodeker & Ranjit Roy Chaudhury); Intellectual Property Rights (Gerard Bodeker); Epilogue (Gerard Bodeker & Gemma Burford). Readership: Public health specialists and departments; health policy departments in ministries of health and universities; colleges of traditional and complementary medicine; World Health Organization and affiliated institutions; medical schools as a background text on TCAM."

This book explores the challenging issues associated with complementary and alternative medicine in the context of the social, political and cultural influences that shape people's health. Divided clearly into three sections, this book: sets out the general context of social change, consumption and debate around the rise of public interest in CAM argues for and against different classifications of CAM critically assesses the importance of ethics and values to CAM practice and how these inform what practitioners do focuses on the question of what people want, the changing and contested nature of health, and the nature of personal and social factors associated with the use of CAM, leading to a focus on 'therapeutic relationships' examines the diversity of settings in which CAM takes place and the social, political and economic milieu in which CAM is provided and used. Together with its accompanying text, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Structures and Safeguards, it forms the core text for the Open University course K221 Perspectives on Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Based on careful analysis of burden of disease and the costs ofinterventions, this second edition of 'Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, 2nd edition' highlights achievable priorities; measures progresstoward providing efficient, equitable care; promotes cost-effectiveinterventions to targeted populations; and encourages integrated effortsto optimize health. Nearly 500 experts - scientists, epidemiologists, health economists,academicians, and public health practitioners - from around the worldcontributed to the data sources and methodologies, and identifiedchallenges and priorities, resulting in this integrated, comprehensivereference volume on the state of health in developing countries.

Integration of complementary and alternative medicine therapies (CAM) with conventional medicine is occurring in hospitals and physicians offices, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are covering CAM therapies, insurance coverage for CAM is increasing, and integrative medicine centers and clinics are being established, many with close ties to medical schools and teaching hospitals. In determining what care to provide, the goal should be comprehensive care that uses the best scientific evidence available regarding benefits and harm, encourages a focus on healing, recognizes the importance of compassion and caring, emphasizes the centrality of relationship-based care, encourages patients to share in decision making about therapeutic options, and promotes choices in care that can include complementary therapies where appropriate. Numerous approaches to delivering integrative medicine have evolved. Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States identifies an urgent need for health systems research that focuses on identifying the elements of these models, the outcomes of care delivered in these models, and whether these models are cost-effective when compared to conventional practice settings. It outlines areas of research in convention and CAM therapies, ways of integrating these therapies, development of curriculum that provides further education to health professionals, and an amendment of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act to improve quality, accurate labeling, research into use of supplements, incentives for privately funded research into their efficacy, and consumer protection against all potential hazards.

Explores the legal issues that health care providers, institutions, and regulators confront as they contemplate integrating complementary and alternative medicine into mainstream U.S. health care. A third of all Americans use complementary and alternative medicine—including chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, nutritional and herbal treatments, and massage therapy—even when their insurance does not cover it and they have to pay for such treatments themselves. Nearly a third of U.S. medical schools offer courses on complementary and alternative therapies. Congress has created an Office of Alternative Medicine within the National Institutes of Health, and federal and state lawmakers have introduced legislation authorizing widespread use of such therapies. These institutional and legislative developments, argues Michael H. Cohen, express a paradigm shift to a broader, more inclusive vision of health care than conventional medicine admits. Cohen explores the legal issues that health care providers (both conventional and alternative), institutions, and regulators confront as they contemplate integrating complementary and alternative medicine into mainstream U.S. health care. Challenging traditional ways of thinking about health, disease, and the role of law in regulating health, Cohen begins by defining complementary and alternative medicine and then places the regulation of orthodox and alternative health care in historical context. He next examines the legal ramifications of complementary and alternative medicine, including state medical licensing laws, legislative limitations on authorized practice, malpractice liability, food and drug laws, professional disciplinary issues, and third-party reimbursement. The final chapter provides a framework for thinking about the possible evolution of the regulatory structure. This book is the first to set forth the emerging moral and legal authority on which the safe and effective practice of alternative health care can rest. It further suggests how regulatory structures might develop to support a comprehensive, holistic, and balanced approach to health, one that permits integration of orthodox medicine with complementary and alternative medicine, while continuing to protect patients from fraudulent and dangerous treatments.

Based on 27 interviews with leading experts in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), Conversations in Complementary and Alternative Medicine offers valuable insights and advice on a variety of CAM modalities, including acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy, and herbal medicine. Each contributor identifies and answers the most commonly asked questions in their particular CAM specialty, including questions on practice, education, and research issues, and provides readers with important tools for identifying evidence-based practice that can form research questions for future CAM studies. Conversations in Complementary and Alternative Medicine is an essential resource for anyone contemplating a career in CAM or already working in the field.

This book reveals the numerous ways in which moral, ethical and legal principles are being violated by those who provide, recommend or sell ‘complementary and alternative medicine’ (CAM). The book analyses both academic literature and internet sources that promote CAM. Additionally the book presents a number of brief scenarios, both hypothetical and real-life, about individuals who use CAM or who fall prey to ethically dubious CAM practitioners. The events and conundrums described in these scenarios could happen to almost anyone. Professor emeritus of complementary medicine Edzard Ernst together with bioethicist Kevin Smith provide a thorough and authoritative ethical analysis of a range of CAM modalities, including acupuncture, chiropractic, herbalism, and homeopathy. This book could and should interest all medical professionals who have contact to complementary medicine and will be an invaluable reference for patients deliberating which course of treatment to adopt.