Kiwis use alternative medicines, but details still lacking on just how much

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-09-03 08:00

New Zealand

PHOTO: Katherine Hanlon/Unsplash

University of Auckland researchers reviewed 72 studies to get a sense of how common it is for Kiwis to use traditional, complementary and alternative medicines. This wide category ranges from natural health products sold in pharmacies, to traditional Māori and Pasifika medicine, to using practitioners like herbalists. While the evidence shows that Kiwis do use these products and practices - and pay substantial money out-of-pocket for them - most of these studies were small and didn’t paint a picture of nationwide use. Furthermore, researchers found there were data gaps on government spending for these treatments, including treatments funded by the Ministry of Health, ACC, and WINZ.

Media release

From: New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA)

Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) is a broad term used to describe the health products, preparations, practitioners and practices that have a long history of use in traditional medicine systems and/or those that are not typically part of dominant “conventional medicine” systems. TCAM is used by people of all ages, ethnicities and with various health conditions in New Zealand. Available studies in New Zealand exploring TCAM use are mostly small and localised (eg, use of TCAM by patients attending one hospital in Auckland). There are limited national data on TCAM use; the most recent study on dietary supplement use was a nutritional survey done in 2008/9. Given TCAM’s popularity as a healthcare choice, reliable, current national data on TCAM use are needed in New Zealand.

Key Points
Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) is used by people of all ages and ethnicities and those with various health conditions in New Zealand.

Some consumers use TCAM concurrently with conventional medicines and pay substantial sums of money out-of-pocket for TCAM treatments.

Numerous studies/reports on TCAM use are available for New Zealand; however, most studies were small, localised and conducted in sub-populations (eg., specific health conditions or age groups).

Various TCAM definitions, data collection tools, methods and prevalence measurements were used in existing studies, thereby limiting data analysis and comparability across studies.

Reliable, current, nationally representative data on prevalence, patterns of use, expenditure and modes of access to TCAM products and practices are needed in New Zealand.

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: University of Auckland

Funder: JB has received fees, honoraria and travel expenses from the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand (PSNZ) for preparation and delivery of continuing education material on complementary medicines (CMs) for pharmacists (2013, 2015); provided consultancy to the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand on Code of Ethics statements on CMs (unpaid) and competence standards (paid); was a member of the New Zealand Ministry of Health Natural Health Products (NHPs) Regulations Subcommittee on the Permitted Substances List (2016–2017) for which she received fees and travel expenses. JB has a personal viewpoint that generally supports regulation for CMs.

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