CMA Position Statement on Malaria and Complementary Medicine

There is no research evidence that complementary medicine in any form can prevent people from contracting Malaria  For further information on Health Protection Agency guidelines please click here: HPA Advice Page

Many of our readers will remember that an organisation called Sense About Science did some secret filming of homeopathic practitioners - the journalist deliberately misled the practitioners and told them that he was a patient who was supposedly going to a malaria zone.  The CMA was not involved in this film and neither were any of our Members.

If a patient who proposes travelling to a malaria zone comes to a CMA Member, we suggest that the following should be considered:

1) Don’t go to malaria infested locations - inform your client that they are at extremely high risk of infection if they travel to a malaria zone.

2) If your client has has no choice and has to travel – tell them to make sure that they don’t get bitten. 

3) There is no medicine that is proven in trials to be 100% reliable – neither conventional nor homeopathic.  There have been some unfortunate side effects of conventional medications - so patients should liaise with their GP to make sure that they have all the relevant information about possible drug reactions and interractions where appropriate so that they can make an informed decision.