Brussels and Geneva, 29 March 2023.
Responding to the increasing popularity of Anthroposophic Medicine worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) has published benchmarks for training in Anthroposophic Medicine. Setting WHO qualification standards for Anthroposophic Medicine practitioners reflects its relevance as a global medical practice and provides patients with a predictable level of care.
Quality Anthroposophic Medicine for patients
“This is an important step for Anthroposophic Medicine to become even more integrated into national healthcare systems.”, said Dr Iracema Benevides, surgeon and general practitioner in Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and Vice-President of the International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations (IVAA). “We very much welcome this development.”
“As more countries are setting policies on traditional, complementary and integrative medicine, WHO developed Anthroposophic Medicine benchmarks as a reference point for policy-makers, health workers and education providers”, said Dr Kim Sungchol, Head of the Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine unit at WHO.
The publication is the result of a rigorous process of mapping and reviewing Anthroposophic Medicine training standards by experts, according to WHO criteria. “We are highly satisfied with the results. The benchmarks fully reflect what the Anthroposophic Medicine community considers to be minimum training for health workers to practice Anthroposophic Medicine,” added Dr Matthias Girke, specialist in internal medicine and Head of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum (Switzerland), the international coordination center for Anthroposophic Medicine.
Countries now need to translate the WHO benchmarks into national training standards
Since Anthroposophic Medicine takes an interdisciplinary approach, the new training standards apply to physicians, nurses, therapists, pharmacists and other healthcare workers. “We are ready to work with any national health authority to translate the WHO training benchmarks into nationally valid training standards,” explained Dr Thomas Breitkreuz, IVAA president and Medical Director, Paracelsus Hospital (Germany). “This is a great opportunity to expand access for patients to high-quality anthroposophic healthcare,” Breitkreuz concluded.
Online launch symposium on 12 April 2023
To mark the publication of the WHO training benchmarks, IVAA, together with the Medical Section at the Goeatheanum and the umbrella organization for Anthroposophic Medicine in Germany (DAMiD), are organizing an online launch symposium on 12 April at 14:00 CET.
More information will be shared soon.
Background
In 2014, the WHO has defined the integration of traditional and complementary medicine into health systems as an important strategic goal (WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy: 2014-2023).
To date, the WHO has published comparable training standards for various established traditional, complementary and integrative practices, such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The benchmarks for training in Anthroposophic Medicine by the WHO are available at
https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/366645
About IVAA
IVAA, the International Federation of Anthroposophic Medical Associations, promotes the recognition of Anthroposophic Medicine and its implementation in health care systems.
Learn more at www.ivaa.info
About the Medical Section at the Goetheanum
The Medical Section at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, is the international center for Anthroposophic Medicine.
Learn more at https://medsektion-goetheanum.org/en/
Press contact
Lora Ivanova
+43 6765220016
