Rise in complementary care
January 11, 2012
AROUND 76% of Australians use
complementary medicine products,
according to a recent survey
conducted by the Complementary
Healthcare Council of Australia
(CHC) and UMR Research.
This figure, according to the CHC
demonstrates the increasing usage
of complementary medicines by
Australians in recent years.
Interestingly survey respondents
who nominated that they were
‘Very Happy’ were found to be
more frequent buyers of vitamins,
with women more likely to buy
than men.
In addition, frequent purchasers
of complementary medicines and
younger Australians told
researchers that a product’s brand
was important to them, however
the overall appearance of the label
of the product was not considered
important by the majority of
respondents.
In terms of labeling, respondents
said that the ingredients of a
product were the most important
factor on a label when purchasing,
followed by the explanation of the
product and information around
dosage.
According to the CHC, the labeling
of the product’s Government
registration came in near the
bottom of the list of factors polled.
“Input from real Consumers and
an open dialogue between the
Industry and the Consumer is
critical to ensuring that health
policy moves in the appropriate
direction and actually achieves
what it is in place to do – shape
Government health initiatives for
the benefit of the Australian
population,” said Dr Wendy Morrow,
Executive Director of the CHC.
MEANWHILE on European shores
the European Medicines Agency
has approved a work program for
2012-15 aimed at strengthening
the integration of herbal medicines
in the pharmaceutical legislative
framework, for full details on the
program’s activities visit
www.ema.europa.eu.
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