New European Union regulations require all those who practice herbal medicine to be authorised persons and therefore state regulated practitioners from 2011, but Britain’s the Department of Health consultation on implementing the Pitillo report is considering the rejection of state regulation of herbal practitioners, to both their dismay and the thousands who swear by their work.
This move – which could effectively outlaw herbal medicine – is ‘entirely contrary to what the steering group had been set up for’ according to Professor Michael Pitillo who led the working group feeding into the consultation.
There are a large number of herbal practitioners working locally who could be threatened by these proposed changes. The DoH consultation ends on 2nd November.
An online petition to the Prime Minister, which closes today, is asking him to intercede on practitioners behalf to ensure properly trained and qualified practitioners are allowed to become “authorised persons” and continue the delivery of herbal medicine.
“Outlawing herbal medicine will have serious adverse effects on the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people who use herbal medicine in the UK,” says a spokesperson. “It will put practising herbalists out of work. It will render degree qualifications in herbal medicine worthless.”
“After almost 10 years of commitment to this important step in the public interest there is now a very real possibility that the Government will not proceed with statutory regulation,” state the Herb Society, Britain’s leading society promoting the understanding use and appreciation of herbs in their response to the consultation. “Instead, the Government is now considering options which will drastically reduce public access to high quality herbal remedies and threaten an important public protection against inferior and sometimes dangerous products.
“Not only will it mean I’ve wasted the last five years getting a degree in herbal medicine,” one aspiring herbalist told us. “It also means that you will no longer have the choice if you wish to use herbal medicine.”
• Sign the Petition: petitions.number10.gov.uk/herbal-ban