Under the guiding hand of Miquel Peralta, President of ACPAUH, the Catalonian Homeopathic Patients Association and EFHPA council member, a gathering of nation-wide homeopathic patient associations took place Barcelona, on the weekend of the 15th 16th December.
Ten collectives and user associations came together to create the State Platform of Homeopathy Patients Associations (PEAPH), in defense of homeopathy and to defend the constitutional right to free choice of therapy. Amongst the associations present were ACPAUH (EFHPA member), Similia País Vasco (EFHPA member), Similia Nafarroa-Navarra (EFHPA member), Similia Aragón (In the process of applying for EFHPA membership), as well as numerous other homeopathic patients associations such as those of the Canary Islands and Andalusia. During the weekend representatives also came from areas where other associations in the process of being formed, such as in the Balearic, Cantabrian and Galician communities.
In a statement, the new platform reported that they will demand the intervention of the state Ombudsman in the face of what they consider a “coercive and imposing” attitude from the Government of Pedro Sánchez.
These associations consider that people who use homeopathy “are being harassed only for exercising their right to free choice of medical treatment.”
Therefore, they plan to send a letter to the Ombudsman requesting their intervention and protection after learning that the position held by the ministries of Health and Science is one which is against homeopathy.
According to the Platform, the heads of the aforementioned ministries have made statements that reveal “an absolutely inadmissible, unacceptable and very dangerous authoritarianism that threatens the smooth running of social coexistence and the healthy development of our democratic system.”
The Barcelona gathering was by all accounts a resounding success, a good augur for the EFHPA annual meeting which will also be held in this vibrant and delightful city.