Thank you to herbal medicine supporters so far who have helped Lily and other herbal medicine practitioners in their campaign for statutory regulation in the UK.  

Lily's governing body the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM) has continued to pro-actively campaign for further support from the general public.  This campaign has extended to local areas nationwide and in this week's Gazette publication on Wednesday 6th October, Lily speaks out about how new EU rules could negatively impact the way Chinese medicine is practiced in the UK: 

"A Chinese medicine practitioner believes new rules on herbal treatments could see patients turn to bogus online products.

Lily Lai, who treats people in Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted, says new European Union rules due to come into effect will restrict the herbal remedies she can prescribe.  

Her fear, she says, is that patients will turn to the web and risk buying from a bogus practitioner. 

She said: "It means patients will no longer receive the individualised and effective herbal treatments that I offer.  And they could be forced to self-prescribe herbs which carries a public health risk."

She added that herbs play an integral role in Chinese medicine and around 1,000 are currently available. 

Under new rules, from April 2011 most herbal medicines will only be available to professionals who are regulated by the government.  Currently those who practice Chinese medicine are not regulated.

The Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine, of which Lily is a member, is calling for Chinese medicine practitioners to be regulated in order to 'protect the public and safeguard the future of herbal medicine'. 

The organisation says two out of three of its members are likely to be affected by the new rules and soem practices may have to close.

Lily said: "I'm very concerned about the future of Chinese medicine in the UK, but if it is regulated then only appropriately trained herbal practitioners will be able to offer treatment to the public.  It will improve practitioner accountability, and keep the public protected from bogus practitioners." "

Please continue to support Lily and other qualified herbal medicine practitioners in their campaign for statutory regulation by logging onto the RCHM website for more details!  Thank you for all your support!