CAM Interest Group is an informal group of members of the European Parliament with a special interest in Complementary and Alternative Medicine on february 21st in the European Parliament they had a meeting and the theme was “Complementary and Alternative Medicine: its benefits for EU citizens with musculoskeletal disorders.”

The meeting was opened by Dr. Maria MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen who welcomed the participants and highlights that this topic it a current subject discussed in Europe. Answering the question how can CAM can contribute in preventing and minimising disability, sick leave and premature retirement in chronic diseases and pain.

The other themes were:
“Musculoskeletal disorders as a major cause of disability and the role of lifestyle and CAM in their managemen” and “Effectiveness research in Tai Chi / Qigong” by Dr Dominik Irnich, assistant professor of anaesthesiology and head of pain medicine at the Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) Munich, Germany.

“Effectiveness research in Yoga” by Dr Holger Cramer, associate professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; Research Director at Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Germany.

“Effectiveness research in Acupuncture” by Dr Hugh MacPherson, professor of acupuncture research at the University of York, Department of Health Sciences, UK

“Effectiveness research in osteopathy” by Patrick van Dun, MSc, DO, Centre for Osteopathic Medicine Collaboration (COME), Belgium.

Representatives present:

Ton Nicolai from EUROCAM, Lina Lasithiotaki from IVAA, Hedi Luxenburger from ICMART, Alex Boon from EFO, Michael Smith from ECCH and from ETCMA Gerd Ohmstede and Sofie Mollekens.

This has a very productive meeting, and Sirpa Pietikäinen pointed out 3 points:

• Citizen initiative: EU citizens should ask for CAM to promote healthy active aging and share their opinion with the politicians
• We need to make a directive within CAM, because the difference between the member states are too big and practitioners are not on the same level. Possibility to organize conference/meeting with other associations and don’t be enemies anymore, also promote contribution with research and medical institutions are necessary.
• We need more evidence based medicine that can also highlight the cost-effective;

For more information go to EUROCAM