Medical acupuncture – What about the future?

Abstract

EU is facing a growing health crisis due to the aging population and the rising levels of chronic diseases, aggravated with the context of economic austerity.

A better use of healthcare budgets improving treatments cost efficiency may be the most reliable answer for a sustainable health system. Assessing the contribution of acupuncture to the improvement of Public Health should be based on solid evidence. Economic evaluations of several Complementary Alternative Medicines (CAM) performed recently demonstrated a positive impact with cost savings when compared with usual care. Nevertheless, the different approaches, levels of education and practices of acupuncture raise questions of extrapolation of these results. The physicians interested in acupuncture have now some challenges for the next years so that a consensus can be achieved to harmonise the clinical practice and the education at the highest level and according to the best scientific knowledge.