Page 6 - Winter 17

IAVH Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing this letter while a flurry of messages are being posted on the forums of the BAHVS and IAVH as a consequence of an article in a UK vet magazine (Vet Times) by a vet, who is very critical about homeopathy, to the point of insulting vets, who practice homeopathy.
Many of our friends are very upset about the fact that such an article is allowed to find its way into the general press and lots of ideas have been floated how to respond.
I am not upset because I did not read the article in full. It was all too predictable what the content would be and I was not going to waste my time. A few of my conventional colleagues did not even notice the letter in the magazine... This does not change the fact that we have to think what image of homeopathy we want to show our colleagues and the wider world. How do we defend ourselves?
My personal opinion is that our first role is that we have to each become as proficient as possible in the art of practicing homeopathy. We have to be thoughtful about and versatile in this amazing medical technique we have
embraced. This implies that each of us should be on a long road of continuous improvement. Secondly, we have to project a good image
of homeopathy: we have to communicate with our colleagues and the wider public. We have to tell our colleagues, we want to cooperate and work in conjunction. We have to be honest to our clients about what expectations they can have. We have to be true to our mission as a veterinary surgeon and do the best we can for our patients whatever technique of medicine is deemed to be the best for the case.
And, yes, homeopathy is an amazing technique, which should ideally benefit everybody but in the real world sometimes it is not the approach that will do the best for a given individual patient.
We have to collect testimonials from our clients because that is one of the main pillars of support for homeopathy. Please send in your testimonials to those who collect them in your country. (This can be your IAVH national representative).
What we never should do is to criticise other medical techniques (including conventional medicine) for their views and approaches. We can disagree and explain our
views but this should happen in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Where we can and should be forceful is pointing out that there is much evidence that homeopathy is more than placebo. We should point out with insistence that Meta-analyses that have concluded the opposite always use incorrect or distorted evaluation techniques to do so (Dixit Prof R Hahn).
One good thing is that, according to research, homeopathy is popular mostly with educated women. Having been at several graduate ceremonies at a number of different universities in the UK, I can assure you that the future is bright for us. Edward
ECH Congress, Vienna 2016
Report by Dr. Petra Weiermayer
The first European Congress of Homeopathy 2016 in Vienna was a big success for homeopathy! 480 participants from more than 30 different countries joined the
congress. Veterinarians (IAVH International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy), human doctors (ECH European Committee for Homeopathy), pharmacists (ECH) und patient’s associations (EFPHA European Federation of Homeopathic Patient's Associations) cooperated together with the congress organiser Liberty Incentives to make this success possible.
Our common goal of conventional medicine and homeopathy complementing one another in the treatment of humans and animals was reflected by the program of the congress. Scientific presentations like the one of Prof. Hahn – Head of Research Södertälje Hospital Sweden, Professor of anaesthesia & intensive care, Linköping University – showing the proving of efficacy of homeopathy as well as the ones of Dr. Khuda-Bukhsh and Dr. Bellavite showing the mode of action of homeopathy, presentations of the state-of-the-art treatment of oncologic patients of Prof. Bartsch, of the state-of-the-art treatment of ADHD of Prof. Döpfner and of the state-of-the-art treatment of orthopaedic and internal emergencies in horses of Prof. Licka and Dr. Berger as well as presentations of case reports/case series etc of the treatment of humans and animals with classical homeopathy, like the one of Dr. Fisher (personal physician of the Queen of England; Clinical Director and Director of Research at the Royal London Hospital for
Integrated Medicine), Dr. De Beukelaer (IAVH president), Dr. Scherr (ÖGVH president) and so on as well as the political and the pharmaceutical panel made this congress unique – unity in diversity!
Please see what is published in the Austrian newspapers as well as the interview at the Austrian commercial television as a consequence of the press conference: http://mobil.derstandard.at/2000047663681/Homoeopath-Leibarzt- der-Queen-am-Kongress-in-Wien https://m.kurier.at/wellness/sogar-die-queen-verwendet- homoeopathische-globuli/231.045.247
Photos can be seen at http://www.homeopathycongress.eu/2016/
Thank you to everybody who was involved in making this unique congress possible – especially Dr. Thomas Peinbaer (past president ECH), Dr. Edward De Beukelaer (president IAVH, Enid Segall (president EFPHA)!
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“What we never should do is to criticise other medical techniques...”
Irrefutable evidence in Homeopathy
Prof Wambersie’s words on the work of Prof Hahn regarding the value of meta-analyses in homeopathy
Comments and thoughts after reading ‘Homeopathy: Meta- Analyses of Pooled Clinical Data.’ (Professor Hahn, 2013 (1)) By Professor Emeritus Dr André Wambersie (UCL, Belgium) (2) January 2017.
The quality of the presentation, style, structure, statistics and arguments used in this article makes it perfectly acceptable to be published in any medical magazine. The review is an argument in favour of the collaboration medicine-homeopathy and the introduction