A recent spate of demands in the United Kingdom that homoeopathic treatments no longer be provided on the NHS has prompted a debate in Germany about the place of homoeopathy in its health service.

Despite the fact that some German pharmacology experts would like to see public health insurers cease paying for it, the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer) has come out in favour of keeping its reimbursement.

The association’s president, Jörg-Dietrich Hoppe, has defended homoeopathic treatment in an official statement. He said that despite the lack of scientific evidence for its effectiveness homoeopathy was an important part of medicine. It was especially effective in treating travel sickness and general malaise but also in preventing disease, he said.

He was backed by the federal health minister, Philipp Rösler, …