Separate testing for complimentary medicines in Australia

Medicines circulated in Australia have to pass through stringent checks at the hands of the Federal commission constituted for the purpose. There are several instances whereby people sell fake medicines under the pretext of alternative medicines. Nevertheless their results have been highly positive in few cases and alternative medicines worth of more than one billion dollars are sold in Australia every year.

In this connection it has been decided to establish a separate project to the tune of five million dollars. This fund will be utilized to verify the authenticity of the medicines and it will be administered through the National Health and Medical Research council according to an official statement issued by Health Minister, Tony Abbott. This has generated some controversies but on the whole it has been received well. He also explained that in the absence of such a measure it is not possible to obtain the entire benefits of complimentary medicines.

He also advocated that therapies can be offered to public after full fledged and complete research. This has generated lots of interest among medical researchers and the move has led to establishment of a research centre under the control of National Institutes of Health in the United States.

This project is a development over Pan Pharmaceuticals crisis which resulted in the withdrawal of several products from sale due to large scale manufacturing irregularities. This research would no way affect the credibility, authenticity and genuineness of complimentary medicines, commented Tony Lewis the executive director of Complementary Healthcare Council who firmly believed that only the results should be used to substantiate effectiveness of a medicine or a therapy.

He citied several practical examples whereby complementary medicines have proven to be superior when compared with conventional medicines. He referred to glucosamine , the shark fin extract which has proved to be efficient than Celebrex for curing osteoarthritis as per a study carried in United States of America. .He also told that abundant quantities of complementary medicines like multivitamins, multiminerals and fish oil for cardiovascular conditions are sold.

Rob Walters a former chairman of Australian Divisions of General Practice expressed displeasure over complimentary medicines and went to the extent of saying that they do not work and they that most of them are duped. He also said that they had severe side effects especially when consumed with other drugs.

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