A PHARMACIST and would-be MSP wants to introduce a moratorium on homeopathic medicine prescriptions, writes Kirsteen Paterson.
Anas Hassan wants to represent the SNP on the Mid Scotland and Fife regional list in the 2016 Holyrood election.
If successful, he has pledged to “lead the way” in ending homeopathic prescribing to prompt a national debate.
The alternative medicine is based on the principle of “like cures like”, and practitioners prescribe plant or mineral-based treatments which are highly diluted.
Last year NHS Scotland spent almost £2 million on homeopathy. Three Scottish health boards have already ended funding for homeopathic medicines: now Hassan says it is time for the rest of the country to follow suit.
He said scientific research and a House of Commons report found the approach did not help patients.
“Quite frankly, it’s a disgrace that any taxpayers’ money is being spend on such treatment,” he said.
“I have sympathy for any patient who may have turned to this when all conventional forms of treatment have failed, but overwhelmingly the evidence is that homeopathic remedies are ineffective.
“That’s the basic truth – it’s literally useless. It’s baffling that there’s still money being spent on this.”
Hassan, who works in pharmacy in Tayside and Fife, said he would not seek a complete ban on homeopathy on the NHS, but instead wanted to facilitate a debate.
Margaret Wyllie, chair of the British Homeopathic Association, said Hassan was ill-informed.
She said: “The most recent peer-reviewed study into homeopathy showed that there was a small but significant treatment effect beyond placebo.”
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