Swiss give five therapies same status as conventional medicine
Five complementary therapies are to be put on the same footing as conventional medicine in Switzeraland.
The interior ministry has decided to apply the “principle of trust” for homeopathy, holistic medicine, herbal medicine, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine.
They will acquire the same status as conventional medicine by May 2017.
Two thirds of the population backed the inclusion of the five therapies on a constitutional list of paid health services.
That meant the treatments were covered by basic compulsory insurance as part of a six year trial period from 2012 to 2017.
The idea was to examine the efficacy of the treatments during that trial.
Now the ministry has decided to accept all five on par with other medical disciplines.
People who avail of the treatments will get a reimbursement of costs provided the treatments are administered by certified medical professionals.
In the meantime the complementary therapies will be subjected to further scrutiny.
A consultation process on the proposed modification of the regulations will remain open until June 30th of this year.
