The Immunisation Dilemma

Summary

Immunisation is an area of medicine that can generate blind belief as well as aggressive disagreements both within and between allopathic and homeopathic professions. Trust in evidence becomes central to the different positions people take. Allopaths frequently criticise homeopathy, both for treatment and prevention, as being devoid of “scientific” evidence, but also they face questions regarding the unreliability of data obtained from metaanalyses of clinical trials. It will be shown that data supporting the effectiveness of homeopathic immunisation is real, and is considerable. However disagreements among homeopaths about immunisation are acknowledged and a first step is proposed towards an international consensus position statement on homœoprophylaxis. This step involves identifying six possible positions a practitioner can take, and then offering homeopaths a chance to participate in an international survey where each practitioner may record their position and further state their views if they wish. Future articles in this series will expand the evidentiary basis of homœoprophylaxis and work towards a consensus statement.

Keywords

Homœoprophylaxis - Immunisation - Vaccination - Prevention - Evidence - Parent information

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