Galery

1

It has been estimated that at least about two million Greeks have used the services of a physician-homeopath, but scientists are still reserved to the results of this treatment. Moreover, there is no law that prohibits or allows the practice of homeopathic treatment. 

According to experts in this field, homeopathy can cure many diseases for relatively low pay for the patient but also for health insurance funds (which currently do not recognize it). On the other hand, representatives of conventional medicine believe that many vials, given out by their fellow homeopaths are placebo or sugar water and the positive results are due only to self-convincing. 

The debate about whether there is homeopathy treatment is not new, but it sparked once again a few weeks ago when British MPs involved in the Commission for Health asked the government of Gordon Brown to cut all subsidies for studies related to homeopathy, because there are no results of such treatment. 

However, this type of therapy has its faithful followers - more than 100 million Europeans have visited at least once in their lifetime a doctor-homeopath. Until five years ago the number of Greeks, who have visited the offices of homeopaths was 1 million. "Maybe this number has doubled by now," says for Vima newspaper President of the Society for Homeopathic Medicine K. Tsitinidis. 

In recent years in Greece Homeopaths' offices are springing up like mushrooms, although there is no appropriate legislation. This legislation hole allows the operation centers where there are no doctors but professionals who call themselves doctor-homeopaths. And although he is not a certified specialist, Dr. Spiros Kivelos admits homeopathic patients in his office, which is open every Wednesday in Athens Hospital "G. Genimatas” for the last six years. "Most diseases can be cured before they reach the stage of chronic disease," says Dr. Kivelos. 

When it comes down to the results of classical homeopathic treatment, doctors say they are reserved. "We believe that this is medicine, which complements the classical one and can be used in certain diseases," says President of the doctors union in Greece Emanuil Kalokerinos.