Invitation, Agenda, Country and Executive Reports, Applications for Executive Committee 2013-2016

The LMHI Executive Officers takes great pleasure in inviting you to the IC Meeting 2013 in Quito, Ecuador, on the occasion of the 68th Liga Congress. It will take place on 3 June 2013 (9 am-5 pm) at the Congress venue "Swissotel Quito".

Detailed information is available in the login-protected section "International Council".

Revised edition after 67th LMHI Congress, September 2012 (Nara, Japan)

This joint production of the Liga Medicorum Homeopathica Internationalis (LMHI) and the European Committee for Homeopathy (ECH) is aimed at considering all important aspects of the scientific framework of homeopathic practice including ethical questions, evaluation of daily practice, looking at the level of scientific evidence of each of these aspects. In conclusion, homeopathy has to stay in the framework of medical practice and it is a necessity for public health - but there is also the need for more research.

The International Homeopathy Day 2013, celebrated on the occasion of Samuel Hahnemann's birthday, was held in Bogotá, Colombia, on 13 April 2013 along with an International Symposium "Homeopathy in the XXI Century". The IHD 2013 was organized by the LMHI member association "Fundación Instituto Colombiano de Homeopatía Luis G. Páez". The LMHI was represented by Dr José Matuk, LMHI President (Mexico), and Dr Edgar Godoy, LMHI Secretary for Archives (Ecuador).

On the occasion of the International Homeopathy Day 2013 (World Homeopathic Day), the Government of India, Department of AYUSH/Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has published a new publication titled ‘Homoeopathy - Science of Gentle Healing'. It traces the development of Homeopathy and its successful institutionalization in India. The chapter on research and development provides a ready reference of the studies of some published clinical and basic research studies conducted by Indian scientists.

The LMHI has moved its statutory seat from Geneva, Switzerland, to the original house of Dr Samuel Hahnemann in Koethen (Anhalt), Germany. This move was celebrated in the presence of the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Science and Economic Affairs of Saxony-Anhalt Marco Tullner, Koethen's Lord Mayor Kurt-Juergen Zander and other city representatives from the City of Koethen, the LMHI Executive Board, and more than 50 guests from all around the world, including India, Bangladesh, Japan, Turkey, and Serbia, but also from Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands, in a joyful and moving ceremony on 16 March 2013. From 1821 to 1835, Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, lived and praticed in "Wallstraße 47" and it is here where he wrote his work "Chronic Diseases" in 1828. His former residence has been extensively restored by the Hahnemannhouse-Society.

04 - 07 June 2013 • Swissotel Quito

Ecuador is the host of the 68th LMHI Congress that takes place from 04 - 07 June 2013 in Quito, Ecuador. It is organized by the Ecuadorian Homeopathic Medical Society (SOMHE), a private and non-profit organization recognized by the Ecuadorian Health Ministry, whose members are professional doctors. The Ecuadorian Medical Federation recognized homeopathy as a specialty in 1998, giving the members of SOMHE acceptance and prestige. The main theme of the congress is "The paradigm of Homeopathic Medicine", subtopics are Quantum physics in Homeopathic Medicine, Homeopathy and Modern Philosophy, and the Standards and Legality in Homeopathic Medicine. In their welcome message, the organizers invite all interested homeopaths to gather and participate in the 68th Homeopathic Medical League Congress 2013 "to share our efforts, doubts and progress that have been achieved with a new paradigm. Nonetheless, we also invite you to enjoy the wonderful scenery of Ecuador and its capital, claimed to be the first world´s heritage, and to glimpse the beauty of the jungle, beaches and, of course, the Galápagos Islands."

Systematic clinical data collection must match contemporary reality as a whole. The aim of these guidelines is to promote convergence in the publications on verification of homeopathic symptoms. The proposed data collection system must be flexible and accessible manually or by information technology. The ultimate objective of this proposal is to use an automatic information system allowing collection, recording, extraction, processing, interpretation, evaluation and communication.

The 67th Congress of the LMHI (LMHI Congress 2012) was held in Nara, Japan, from 14-17 September 2012. Thanks to the efforts of the Japanese Physicians Society for Homeopathy (JPSH) in cooperation with the Liga Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis (LMHI), the Congress ended as a great success. More than 300 homeopathic doctors from 32 different countries of the world, including 196 participants from Japan, came together to share their advances in interesting and useful approaches to homeopathic solutions. "We believe that the success of this congress will further enhance the value of LMHI and the betterment for the future studies", stated Dr. Ronko Itamura, Senior Director of JPSH and the LMHI's National Vice-President for Japan. As a result of the discussion at the congress, the following conclusions were reached:

One of the most essential functions the LMHI has is that of being the guardian and preserving institution of the timeless qualities of homeopathy. The LIGA achieves this goal by promulgating excellent Homeopathic Medical Education Standards and by encouraging all schools and homeopathic medical associations worldwide and all of their members to provide the best possible homeopathic education to their members.

Dr. Ulrich D. Fischer, Past President of the LMHI, was invited to attend the Congress of the Homeopathic Association of South Africa (HSA) in late April. South Africa has been accepted as a new member country of the LMHI. at the December 2011 meeting of the LMHI International Council in New Dehli.

September 2010

According to several EU directives concerning the registration procedure of homeopathic medicinal products for human and veterinary use, the homeopathic remedy definition must take into consideration two elements: the homeopathic use and the homeopathic nature of the stock/raw material. In the LMHI-ECH document about “Medical Homeopathic Education Standards”, “Homeopathy” is defined as: “a method of medical practice, aimed at improving the level of health of an organism by the administration of proven and sucussed/triturated medicines, which are individually selected in accordance with the law of similars.” In order to arrive to a more complete definition for the homeopathic medicine/remedy, three aspects must be considered.

Response by the European Committee for Homeopathy ECH and the International Homeopathic Medical League LMHI 

In a report published 22 February 2010, the Science and Technology Committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons concludes that homeopathy is not efficacious (that is, it does not work beyond the placebo effect), that explanations for why homeopathy would work are scientifically implausible and that further clinical trials of homeopathy could not be justified. Furthermore, it concludes that the NHS should cease funding homeopathy and that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) should no longer license homeopathic medicines.

Remarkably, just 4 of the 14 members of the Science and Technology Committee voted on this report: 3 for, one against. One of its three signatories has stridently campaigned against homeopathy and continued to do so even in the period between the hearings and the publication of the report.

The European Committee for Homeopathy ECH and the International Homeopathic Medical League LMHI find the conclusions and recommendations of the Science and Technology Committee completely unfounded. The report is highly tendentious and fundamentally flawed, consistently misrepresenting the scientific evidence to the detriment of homeopathy and making unfounded and pejorative allegations against those who advocate or practise homeopathy.

A recent study published in the International Journal of Oncology has demonstrated the beneficial effects of homeopathic medicines on breast cancer cells.

In 1999 the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) evaluated a cancer treatment protocol developed at the P. Banerji Homeopathic Research Foundation (PBHRF) in Kolkata, India. The ‘Banerji protocol’ used specific ultra-diluted natural substances to treat patients with different cancers. The NCI reviewed 10 patients treated on the Banerji protocol. In four of the cases with lung and esophageal cancers, the NCI confirmed partial responses. All patients reviewed had appropriate pathology and imaging studies to confirm diagnosis and response. The patients only received the remedies prescribed at the PBHRF clinic and did not receive any additional conventional treatment, such as surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. After rigorous evaluation, the NCI concluded that there was sufficient evidence of efficacy to warrant further research of the Banerji protocol.

Re: "WHO warns against homeopathy use"

Letter from LMHI President Dr Ulrich D. Fischer to Dr Margaret Chan, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), regarding the WHO's position on homeopathic medicines.

LMHI Guideline for Clinical Data Collection

Historically, homeopathy always acts very well in pandemic situations. To confirm this fact nowadays, homeopaths have to collect the clinical data of their influenza patients.

The first aim is to define the "genius epidemicus", first at the office of each MD, later on in each country and finally worldwide. Taking some time for this analysis is winning time for next consultations to everybody.
The second aim will be to have the possibility to do a retrospective survey on the pandemic situation when it will be passed.