HOMEOPATHS have come under fire for selling treatments for malaria and other tropical diseases over the internet.
Tropical disease specialists say the practice, though not illegal, is irresponsible, because clients who buy the medicines mistakenly think they are protected from disease and are likely to take more risks than if they had no treatment at all.
The trade was exposed by an investigation by London-based charitable trust Sense About Science, which promotes good science. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e providing homeopathic remedies for hay fever or headaches, that鈥檚 one thing, but this is life or death,鈥� says Simon Singh, a broadcaster who collaborated in the investigation.
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鈥淗omeopathic remedies for hay fever is one thing, but malaria is life or death鈥�
Alice Tuff of Sense About Science posed as a customer preparing for a 10-week trek through malaria-ridden areas of Africa. She contacted 10 homeopathic practices in the London area offering malaria treatments. All of them offered the remedies without recommending conventional treatments or providing advice about additional precautions to avoid infection, such as using mosquito repellent and bed nets.
鈥淭o pretend that these pills will protect you against malaria strikes me as nothing short of criminal,鈥� says David Colquhoun of University College London, responding to the report when it was released on 14 July.
Ron Behrens, director of London鈥檚 Hospital for Tropical Diseases travel clinic, accused the homeopaths of putting lives at risk. He says his clinic has previously had to treat people with malaria who thought they were protected by homeopathic remedies.
Even the British Faculty of Homeopathy, which represents homeopaths, condemned the trade. It remains legal because of a loophole that allows the sale of such remedies by anyone other than registered doctors.
