Homeopathy in the czech republic

Homeopathy in the czech republic

 Homeopathy in the czech republic (Jitka Drabkova)
 The Czech Republic is home of the Budvar beer (and the real Budweisier town), and the Pilsner beer. But not only beer springs are to be found here. If you refresh your memory and consult Clarke’s Dictionary, you will see that it is the homeland of the Carlsbad and Teplitz remedies as well, coming from the healing springs from Czech spas and health resorts.
 The Czech Republic is a small country in central Europe formerly belonging to the so-called Eastern Soviet bloc. Homeopathy has had a long tradition here, mainly when the country was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when cooperation with Austrian Vienna flourished. After the First World War, when the Empire was broken into several independent states, the new Czechoslovakia (the federation of the Czech and Slovak republics) was not bad at homeopathy. The real tragedy started after the takeover by the Communists in 1948. Homeopathy was suppressed and only survived in a very dark, hidden, and forbidden underground. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the so-called the Velvet Revolution, and the fall of Communism in what was then Czechoslovakia in 1989, homeopathy started to raise its head and to begin its new life.
 After 1990, many courses were organized from many sources and lands of origin. Above all, a British group lead by the pioneer of homeopathy, Peter Chapell, and the London College of Classical Homeopathy introduced homeopathy into “new” countries. Then we can mention the French Boiron group, the Netherland school, the Austrian group, and Indian courses, together with many summer courses and solitary lectures given by many outstanding homeopaths – Herscu, Zaren, Sankaran and others. The literature started to be translated as well.
 In 1993, Czechoslovakia split off into two republics – Czech and Slovak – but although two states were created, for homeopathy it was still one country. The conditions in both are similar, the language is very close and nowadays books, magazines, seminars, and lectures are shared by both Czechs and Slovaks.

General background
 The living standard is not bad here. In fact, the average income is about 12,000 CZK a month, which is equal to US$330, but at the same time, prices are very low. People are not used to spending much money for their health and preventative medicine. They are used to insurance companies paying for common (allopathic) treatment and they are not used to paying in cash for overages. Homeopathic treatment is not covered by insurance companies. The first interview can cost about 5-10 per cent of the average salary, and for some people that is too much.
 People are not educated to know what homeopathy is. For common people, the name homeopathy connotes healing and healers in general and they are not able to differentiate between them. Predominantly, most new homeopathic patients come from referrals from previous patients. Potential number of patients is the 10 million citizens of the Czech Republic and half that number in the Slovak Republic.

Legislation
 The legislation concerning homeopath is the big problem, mainly for non-MDs. The current legislation resulted from the activities of the medical homeopathic society and is a total misunderstanding of the function and role of homeopathy. Homeopathy is listed as an additional medical method, and it is treated as a medical method and this mixing of medicine and homeopathy brings much confusion.
 Officially, homeopathy is restricted to the hands of doctors. Only doctors can write prescriptions for remedies, both homeopathic and otherwise, regardless of their homeopathic training. As for non-MDs, from the beginning of 2001, even the profession “healer” is not allowed anymore. So homeopathy is practised by non-MDs hiddenly, under the label of “healthy advisory service” or “recondition center.” This vague term avoids responsibilities. You can only “advise” a patient to take a remedy, and the decision is up to them. If you do not have a medical degree, you are not allowed to prescribe any (including homeopathic) remedies.
 This confusing and paradoxical situation is reflected in the pharmacies as well. Because homeopathy is considered a medical method, the rules for the sale of homeopathic remedies are the same as for “normal” remedies in pharmacies. Starting in March 2001, single homeopathic remedies are only given strictly with a prescription (which can be issued only by an MD) and the prescription is stored for half a year in the pharmacy, because of controls. The poly-composites (combination remedies) are freely available without prescription. There is a list of registered homeopathic remedies which are allowed to be sold, and each item has to be labeled with an expiration date (circa four years). The remedies which are not registered are ordered directly and privately from abroad and are given right in the clinic rooms – but it is not legal to do so, like so many things about homeopathy in the Czech Republic. Many non-MDs and even doctors have their own remedy stocks in their clinic rooms and exchange the remedies and potencies among themselves.

Professional organizations
 Last year the Czech Chamber of Classical Homeopathy started to act on its officially stated position of homeopathy as independent of the school of medicine. The Chamber is a member of European Council for Classical Homeopathy (ECCH), being their first representative from the former Soviet bloc. The Chamber issues the approved status of RsHom (Registered Homeopath) which meet the European criteria (hours of education, supervision for non-MDs, necessary basic education in medical matters, following the Ethical Codex, etc.) But for the current Czech legislation, no existing diplomas or titles or RsHom status are relevant. You may only practice homeopathy if you are a doctor. Maybe in the future, laws will be appropriately changed.
 Currently, there are more homeopathic societies organizing seminars for both doctors or non-doctors, publishing literature and magazines. This is healthy because then each homeopath can choose the society they wish to support by members’ fees. On the other hand, the homeopathic community is not unified. Therefore energy, funding, and efforts often struggle, even among particular societies. The existence of one strong homeopathic society would probably be better and more efficient.

Homeopathic community
 It is difficult to estimate the number of homeopaths practising seriously in the Czech Republic. We can guess at about 300 homeopaths, based on the number of subscribers of Homoeopathic LINKS living there. This reflects the people who are seriously interested in the news and information on homeopathy. It also gives a realistic number of eager and serious homeopaths who can be taken into account. Whether this is a hobby for them, or if they practise intensively, is a question.