Herbal Reason
In Ashleigh Wilson's article, "Concern lingers over herb therapies" (28/6), Susan Dean of the National Herbalists Association is quoted as saying that empirical evidence shows alternative medicine is safe and effective when administered by trained practitioners and that "we get a lot of criticism from people outside our field because there isn't a large body of scientific evidence on herbal medicines".
There isn't a large body of scientific evidence supporting orthodox medicine either.
Only about 15 percent of orthodox medical interventions are based on solid evidence of efficacy (according to an article in British Medical Journal, October 5, 1991).
In the field of cancer, the figure is about 6 percent and many of these therapies, particularly radiotherapy and chemotherapy, cause more harm than good.
So it is not surprising that about $1 billion is spent on alternative therapies every year in Australia.
Don Benjamin,
Cancer Information and Support Society
St Leonards,
NSW.
Published in The Australian, 3 July 2002.