EU to fund complementary medicine research

The EU is to put €1.5 million into complementary medicine research over the next three years. Called CAMbrella, the plan is to create a network of European research institutes that will focus on the role of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in healthcare systems, legal regulation, patients’ needs, research methodology and terminology. The project started January 2010.

The research group consists of 16 scientific partner organisations from 12 European countries. The UK is represented by Southampton University. The project is supported by an Advisory Board, which includes members of the relevant stakeholder organisations such as patient and practitioner organisations, providers and consumers.

According to the project website, the objectives of CAMbrella are:

• to develop an EU network involving centres of research excellence for collaborative research
• to develop consensus-based terminology widely accepted in Europe to describe CAM interventions
• to create a knowledge base that facilities our understanding of patient demand for CAM and its prevalence
• to review the current legal status and policies governing CAM provision in the EU and
• to explore the needs, beliefs and attitudes of the EU citizens with respect to CAM. 

For more information visit www.cambrella.eu or contact Professor George Lewith: gl3@soton.ac.uk