Claremont, Western Australia -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/17/2013 -- Until recent years, naturopathic medicine has been considered alternative hippy medicine and by some even quackery. Within recent years though, the Australian industry is making significant bounds with growing evidence-based medicine supporting the use of both herbal and nutritional medicine for health.

Growing awareness of the efficacy of herbal and nutritional medicine is becoming more widely accepted globally and more recently with the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution designating October 7 - October 13 as Naturopathic Medicine Week.

The US resolution recognises the value of naturopathic medicine in providing "safe, effective, and affordable health care..." and encourages Americans to learn about the role of naturopathic physicians in preventing chronic and debilitating conditions.

Passage of this US resolution is an historic achievement for naturopathic medicine. The US Congress has now officially recognised the important role naturopathic medicine plays in effectively addressing the nation's health care needs as well as in addressing the increasingly severe shortage of primary care physicians.

The Naturopathic Medicine Week in October will add awareness globally to the value of preventative medicine to support prevention of many chronic illnesses such as type 2 Diabetes and high blood pressure. Governments could potentially save billions on healthcare with the further integration of naturopathic medicine.

“With an explosion of preventable chronic illnesses in Australia in the past decade, integrative patient care from naturopaths has the potential to save the Australian government billions of dollars”, explains Shannon Burford from Cura Integrative Medicine.

“The Australian naturopathic industry is gaining momentum with the recently forming of Australian Register of Naturopathic and Herbalists (ARONAH)” says Mr Burford. The recent ARONAH register raises the standards for education in the industry and giving greater protection to the public who visit naturopaths or herbalists.

Naturopaths and Western herbalists are now a fundamental part of the Australian healthcare system and form Australia’s largest complementary medicine professional group. Approximately 50% of Australians consult with complementary medicine practitioners and approximately 1 in 6 use them as their primary care practitioners according to ARONAH.

Globally naturopaths are licensed by the US government in 19 states and territories and 6 Canadian Provinces. More US states and all remaining Canadian provinces and territories are currently pursuing registration. In the United Kingdom, where Western herbalism is a more common profession, moves are currently underway to develop statutory registration for that profession. Naturopaths and Western herbalists in other jurisdictions including New Zealand, South Africa, Germany and India are either already registered or it is being actively pursued.

For more information please contact Mr Shannon Burford from Cura Integrative Medicine or phone +61-8-92844644