UNESCO TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IN PRACTICE Europe and North America

Europe and North America

Modern medicine is the cornerstone of health care systems in Europe and North America.

However, people in these countries also have access to traditional and alternative treatments. The

growing interest in non-indigenous traditions and knowledge and in some ancient treatments of

local origin is thus all the more significant. These include herbal medicine and its complex

pharmacopoeia with its wide range of preparations us

ing leaves, herbs, roots, bark and other plant

and mineral substances. To promote this knowledge, several herbal practitioners' associations

have been established in countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark. In 1993,

these associations joined the European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association

(EHTPA), which aims to foster unity, raise training and practice standards within the profession,

and obtain official recognition and legalization throughout the European Union