Page 12 - Winter 2011

IAVH Newsletter – Incorporating National Representatives reports
President’s letter
Dear friends,
Those of you who follow the IAVH forum will have picked up on the correspondence between members on the Association’s possible role in facilitating research into homeopathy, as proposed by the EU’s Agriculture committee. At this point in time, we do not know whether the proposal has been successful, but the consensus of
our members is that it is only established research organisations who are likely to be consulted, hence any role for the IAVH is likely to be periph- eral. However, this has been a useful exercise, which has highlighted our lack of preparedness for such an eventuality, hence it has emphasised the need for an IAVH Research sub-committee. Their task will be to col- lect research papers from around the world, and collate them into a resource, which can be used by our members, and be available to any individual or organisation, which might need such information. I am pleased to report that Mark Elliot has agreed to chair the sub-committee. Mark is the current President of BAHVS, and for some years has been a Council member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the control- ling body for veterinarians in UK. He runs a holistic practice near Chichester, West Sussex, and was one of the authors of the clinical audit studies published in the Veterinary Record (horses) and Homeopathy (dogs and cats) last year. He also published a paper in 2001 on the home-
opathic treatment of Cushings disease in horses and dogs, and is a reg- ular contributor to several magazines. Mark will need some help on this project, so he will no doubt be co-opting someone else from our organi- sation as soon as he is ‘up and running’. If you have an interest in this area, please contact him either through the office, or directly. On a point of order, we can only appoint Mark officially with the consent of a full Board meeting, the next of which is in April 2012. However, I hope you will all agree he should start work now, and we will create the sub-com- mittee officially in April.
The board meeting will be held by kind invitation of our Hungarian col- leagues, in Budapest on April 21st. On the day before that there will be a one-day conference, at which several IAVH members will speak. Our secretary, Helene Widmann, and our Hungarian colleague Mrs Wallner have put together a programme, which should be interesting to anyone involved in the homeopathic treatment of animals. It should be on the website by the time you receive this journal. Please consider swelling the numbers and enjoy meeting up with your fellow IAVH members.
Before then, the cycle of seasons in the Northern hemisphere will have taken us beyond the shortest day, and we will have celebrated the coming of the light once more. While many will mark the New Year with more ancient rituals, it is Christmas, a few days earlier, which has come to be celebrated, in one way or another, all over the world. So I take this opportunity of wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May the coming year see our organisation grow and flourish.
Peter
The Dean of the Veterinary Faculty of Utrecht, Holland, was also present, so I had a long talk with him on homeopathy too. I have emailed the article on ‘Homeopathy in neonatal diarrhoea in piglets’ to all people I met and I asked them to contact the IAVH or me if they wanted to know more about courses for farmers in developing countries, or other subjects about homeopathy. I have no idea if they will pick up the challenge, but at least I tried.
We also had an evening after the Congress, where Rick Palmquist spoke on the subject of homo-toxicology. I did a presentation on home- opathy and the Lac remedies. All the vets
World Veterinary Congress (WVC),
Cape town, South-Africa, October 2011 By Liesbeth Ellinger
October 12 and 13 I visited the WVC, in order to give a lecture about the research we did on ‘Homeopathy in neonatal diarrhoea in piglets’.
The WVC was in South Africa, so besides the canine, equine and bovine lectures we are used to, there were also lectures on wildlife – probably quite interesting, but I chose to visit the lectures on complementary medicine, which were organised by Jane Fraser and Sue Hayes.
The main part was on homo-toxicology, by Rick Palmquist. He presented several difficult cases in which he had success with the German Heel-remedies. Another speaker, who unfortunately couldn’t come, [so we watched the presentation on video], was Robert Schulz, a specialist in vaccines, who emphasised the fact that dogs and cats are vaccinated far too much: there is scientific proof that vaccines give sufficient protection for 7 years. But because it is unacceptable for vets, a vote was taken: according to this vote the vets DECIDED that vaccines would only protect for 3 years...
!
There were lectures on chiropractice and
in-water-exercises, and a lecture on ethno- veterinary medicine – quite interesting. The homeopathic contribution was my lecture on scientific research. The conference room was quite full, and according to the organizers, there were a number of large-animal vets who never had shown interest in homeopathy before now.
Being at a conventional veterinary congress gave new possibilities for networking. On the plane to Cape Town I was so lucky to sit next to person who was also on the way to the con- gress: Annie Souyri of the OIE, that is the WHO but for animal health! (WOAH). She is responsi- ble for the publications in the OIE, and she showed interest in the research we did.
At the conference there were many other organisations. I spoke to representatives of the FAO, and here I emphasized the possibilities of homeopathy for farmers in developing countries.
Treasurer’s Report
It’s my 19th year on the board of IAVH. The history of the association shows,thatthecontinuationoftenhasbeenanadventure,becauseit turnedouttobedifficulttobuildareliablestructureforallcountrieswith different languages and habits.
In2010itwaspossibletoestablishanIAVHofficewiththeofficeof
Markus Mayer.
The former President Liesbeth Ellinger (NL) also introduced the idea
ofanUmbrellaOrganization.Thedirectionhasbeentakenawayfromthe international supra-organization which had its importance over the years, to a network association, that is based on the strength of national groups.
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