Humanists support scientists and researchers in their quest for knowledge and the improvement of human health and wellbeing. We believe that claims made about the medical benefits and efficacy of all medicines should be supported by a strong body of scientific evidence derived from trial data.
Therefore, we reject the endorsement of so-called ‘complementary and alternative medicine’ (‘CAM’) for which there has been little, inconsistent, or no evidence provided.
We oppose the state providing funding for such treatments and believe that pharmacists and other organisations who sell or promote CAM products should have a duty to make clear that there is no scientific or clinical evidence base to support their efficacy. We support the Advertising Standards Authority’s approach of prohibiting false claims about CAM in advertising. We support wider public health campaigns that are strongly supported by scientific evidence, such as school vaccinations, adding fluoride to tap water, and adding folic acid to flour.
In depth
There are a wide variety of treatments that fall within the category of CAM, such as homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathy, Reiki, naturopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, herbalism, faith healing, and conversion practices. Much scientific evidence has been put forward refuting the medical efficacy of these treatments. Under the scrutiny of scientific trials of these ‘remedies’ it has consistently been shown that: there is no beneficial effect above that of a placebo, there is limited evidence of their efficacy, there is no established substantial efficacy for the ailments that they claim to treat. Therefore, to claim that any of these are a ‘cure’ or ‘effective’ is unethical.
Although bodies exist to regulate and accredit some CAM practitioners, it remains a largely unregulated area of medicine and some remedies haven’t been thoroughly tested for their safety, potentially putting vulnerable people at risk. Furthermore, by encouraging patients to abandon conventional medicines on which their health depends, proponents of CAM remedies may cause long-term, severe, or even fatal damage to patients’ health.
It is our position that CAM treatments should not be funded by the state, and that no further public money should be spent researching such treatments when there is already overwhelming evidence that they work no better than a placebo. We believe that pharmacists and other organisations that sell or promote CAM products should have a duty to make clear that there is no scientific or clinical evidence base to support their efficacy. We support the guidelines issued by the Advertising Standards Authority and the Committees on Advertising Practice, which prohibit CAM proponents from making false claims about their products when advertising. We believe that prescribing or promoting CAM remedies is not a charitable activity and organisations that do this should not be able to register as charities.
What we’re doing
We are vigilant against examples of the state funding CAM, for example through the NHS. The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine continues to provide CAM such as acupuncture. Homeopathy is still funded by the NHS in Scotland – through, for example, NHS Glasgow and Greater Clyde’s Centre for Integrative Care. Our sister charity Humanist Society Scotland works to see this end.
We are particularly active right now in seeking a legislative ban for conversion practices, itself a form of CAM intending to ‘cure’ people of being LGBT.
Appendix: Past work on this issue
Although there are numerous types of CAM, our work in the past has largely focused on ending state funding for homeopathic treatments. This is a medicinal system that is based on treating the individual with highly diluted substances. We worked closely on this campaign with the Good Thinking Society, set up by our patron Dr Simon Singh.
In 2010, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee produced a report on the available evidence regarding homeopathy. It concluded that ‘The Government’s position on homeopathy is confused. On the one hand, it accepts that homeopathy is a placebo treatment. This is an evidence-based view. On the other hand, it funds homeopathy on the NHS without taking a view on the ethics of providing placebo treatments. We argue that this undermines the relationship between NHS doctors and their patients, reduces real patient choice, and puts patients’ health at risk. The Government should stop allowing the funding of homeopathy on the NHS.’
In 2017, Humanists UK and Good Thinking led a campaign recommending NHS England to end all NHS prescriptions for homeopathic treatments, and for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to add homeopathy to the blacklist of treatments not to be offered at all on the NHS.
That year we responded to a consultation held by NHS England calling for an end to prescriptions for several treatments including all homeopathic and herbal treatments.
In response to this recommendation, the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (until 2010 the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital) announced that it will stop providing NHS-funded homeopathic treatments. NHS England subsequently recommended that Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) should no longer prescribe either of these treatments to new patients and to facilitate their removal from current patients. Additionally, they recommended that homeopathy be added to the NHS’s blacklist.
Other NHS trusts also stopped funding it, In 2018, we responded to a joint consultation held by the CCG for Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire, calling for an end to the funding of homeopathic treatments on the NHS. The CCGs subsequently removed these treatments from routine care. This means that it is only in Scotland that funding now remains.
Focusing beyond homeopathy, in 2017, we responded to a consultation by the Charity Commission on the registration of organisations that use or promote CAM remedies as charities, calling for higher standards of evidence to be applied to organisations that promote CAM. The Charity Commission updated its approach to CAM providing organisations, and requires them to provide scientific evidence for the public benefit they provide in order to remain registered. In 2022, a charity was removed from the register for providing unsubstantiated nutritional therapy for cancer survivors.
In 2018, we responded to a joint consultation held by the CCG for Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire, calling for an end to the funding of homeopathic treatments on the NHS. The CCGs subsequently removed these treatments from routine care.