Prince Charles urges old remedies for modern world

May 23, 2006

GENEVA (Reuters) - Prince Charles told a meeting of the world's health ministers on Tuesday that ancient cures like acupuncture and herbal medicines should be used alongside modern treatments to improve global health.

In a keynote address to the World Health Organisation's annual assembly, Charles said patients ought to seek "the best of both worlds" when treating chronic conditions like heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

"It is tragic, it seems to me ... that in the ceaseless rush to modernise, many beneficial approaches, which have been tried and tested and have shown themselves to be effective, have been cast aside because they are deemed to be old fashioned," he told a packed meeting hall at the U.N.'s European headquarters.

The WHO's annual meetings, which run until Saturday, have been darkened this year by the unexpected death of the U.N. health agency's leader Lee Jong-wook of South Korea.

The 61-year-old died on Monday morning, two hours before the talks were due to begin, after undergoing emergency surgery on the weekend to remove a blood clot on the brain.

In his remarks to the assembly, which carried on after a brief pause in Lee's honour on Monday morning, the prince stressed the need for policy-makers to focus on chronic ailments as well as infectious diseases like bird flu and AIDS.

He said "increasingly robust evidence" had shown that acupuncture could effectively treat conditions such as osteoarthritis of the knee, and alleviate the nausea associated with anti-cancer drugs.

The Prince also referred to clinical trials of the herbal remedy St. John's wort, which he said "have shown some positive effects in treating non-severe depression, with a remarkably low incidence of side effects."

Charles, whose Foundation for Integrated Health aims to promote both conventional and traditional health methods, said chronic conditions such as lower back pain, stress, anxiety and depression could be eased in a cost-effective way with alternative therapies.