But Does It Work?

摘要

Every year Britons spend around ￡4.5 billion on treatments ranging from aromatherapy to yogic healing, with one in five visiting one of 150,000 alternative therapists. This huge business came under official regulation for the first time on January 19th, when the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (cnhc to its friends, Ofquack to critics), partly financed by the Department of Health and inspired by Prince Charles's Foundation for Integrated Health, opened its doors.rnIn a bold bid to impose order, the cnhc will register practitioners who sign a code of conduct, take out insurance and provide evidence of some training. It hopes to regulate a dozen therapies by the end of the year-including Reiki (a sort of energy channelling), homeopathy and aromatherapy-and have 10,000 therapists on its books. But registration is voluntary, and many alternative practitioners, despite the lure of official recognition, fear a state invasion of their turf.