We need evidence about the risks and benefits of alternative medicines

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We need evidence about the risks and benefits of alternative medicines

The World ��ҹ��1000�� Organization caused an uproar last month when it held its first global summit on traditional and complementary medicines. We need to establish what works and what doesn't when it comes to these therapies, says Clare Wilson

By Clare Wilson

6 September 2023

2RHHNP6 Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World ��ҹ��1000�� Organization(WHO), third from right, and Mansukh Mandaviya, Indian Minister of ��ҹ��1000�� and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, second right, look with other delegates at pots filled with millets during the Global Conference on Traditional Medicine as part of the G20's ��ҹ��1000�� Ministers' meeting in Gandhinagar, India, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) — Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World ��ҹ��1000�� Organization, third from right, and Mansukh Mandaviya, Indian Minister of ��ҹ��1000�� and Family Welfare, at the WHO’s Global Conference on Traditional Medicine in Gandhinagar, India
Ajit Solanki/Associated Press/Alamy

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I HAVE a confession to make. For most of my life, I have been sceptical about the merits of alternative and complementary medicines. But when I experienced an unpleasant condition in my 30s that couldn’t be helped by conventional medicine,…

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