NAFKAM’s Miek Jong and Barbara Wider recently attended the first congress of the Dutch Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health (CIZG). "In or outside the box?" - with this question the Consortium invited delegates to have an open-minded and critical look at integrative medicine and its contribution to lifestyle medicine, health, shared decision-making, and person-centered healthcare.
In her keynote lecture, NAFKAM’s director Prof Miek Jong presented complementary medicine in a European context, covering aspects of patient’s perspectives, research, policy as well as NAFKAM’s contributions to the field. It was apparent that over 25% of the European population use some form of complementary and alternative medicine, and little to no central regulation on this.
Two sessions on evidence-based supportive oncology highlighted the importance of integrative cancer care based on reliable information on its safety and efficacy. NAFKAM’s CAM Cancer website provides such evidence-based information on complementary therapies for cancer.
Barbara Wider, senior editor of CAM Cancer, is impressed by the presented Dutch examples of integrated cancer care, and pleased about the increasing use of CAM Cancer in the Netherlands:
- It is great to see that NAFKAM’s CAM Cancer website features as a main information resource on complementary medicine for cancer on the Dutch Cancer Foundation’s website and can thus contribute to safe and effective cancer care.
The Dutch Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health (Consortium voor Integrale Zorg en Gezondheid, CIZG) consists of six healthcare and research organizations including the Radboudumc, HagaZiekenhuis, Máxima Medical Center, Rijnstate, Lentis, Louis Bolk Instituut. The CIZG strives for an integrated healthcare system with scientifically substantiated, safe and effective treatments, with a plausible functional mechanism. The congress took place on 8th October 2021 to mark the third anniversary of the Consortium’s existence.
