This blog believes that accredting the Society of Homeopaths was a mistake by the PSA. However, I can accept that some benefits may come of it. One is that the Society now needs to watch very closely its public profile – even more than before.

So, on a public homeopathy discussion board discussion board, this email gets slipped out…

Information about Ebola Dear xxx The Society shares the global concern at the Ebola epidemic unfolding in West Africa and commends the health professionals and staff working in these areas at considerable personal risk. For the good of the profession, we would urge members to be aware of the dangers of making statements about or engaging in discussions on Ebola via social media platforms. There are a few journalists who are currently fishing for ammunition around this topic with which to attack homeopathy. There is no evidence to support the use of homeopathy in the prevention or cure of Ebola and to suggest otherwise hands our opponents a golden opportunity to renew their attacks against homeopaths and homeopathy. We are working as ever with the aim of protecting our profession and thank you for your cooperation. Yours sincerely, Miranda Parsons Chair

The discussion board is an open homeopathy platform and not limited to Society members. The reaction to this email from other homeopaths shows both the inherent split in the world of homeopathy and its fundamentalist thinking. There is great tension between those that want to integrate into respectable and mainstream healthcare and those that see such a move as a complete betrayal of everything homeopathy stands for.

Gosh! Does this society truly represent homeopathy and homeopaths? It doesn’t look like it.Many of our representative organisations have been right off the mark in recent times. Under the guise of “protecting homeopathy and homeopaths” they do the very opposite and weaken our profession.Do they have any confidence at all in our bedrock principle, in our history of prophylaxis and treatment, in our ability to rapidly mobilise against novel diseases via symptom matching a remedy?By all means, crack down on homeopaths making definitive statements that it is this or that remedy but don’t try to hide in a corner with statements such as “We are working as ever with the aim of protecting our profession and thank you for your cooperation.”This sort of representation has led to the erosion of homeopathy’s vital role in the world community and is a total disgrace. At this time, more than ever, the homeopathic profession and those at risk from this disease need people who speak strongly about our practices and what is possible – and how to achieve that. With WHO already having recognised we are the second most widely used medicinal system in the world, so much more should be expected from us but all our representatives do is trot out this pile of crap?!?!? Shame, shame shame.