A three year EU Commission funded project to research the area of Complementary and Alternative Medicine(CAM) in Europe kicked off with an inaugural meeting of the project group in Munich on the 21 & 22 January 2010. The project entitled CAMbrella is led by a consortium of 14 university-based research teams working together with an Advisory Group of stakeholder representatives from the CAM sector and from other groups representing patients and consumers. The meeting was addressed by a representative from the EU Commission Directorate General for Research and Development who outlined the various responsibilities involved in managing the project and the 1.5 million Euro grant awarded to the successful CAMbrella consortium, one of several that bid for the funding.
The project will extend over a period of three years and culminate in December 2012 with a summary report being produced and a final project conference in which the results will be presented and discussed. Areas to be researched through 8 work package agendas include descriptions of the various CAM modalities and and definitions of terms; patient use, needs and expectations; provider perspectives including those of the CAM therapeutic medicines and products industry and a roadmap of recommendations for future research in to CAM as a springboard for future research in the area. EFCAM is represented on the Advisory Board by its President Seamus Connolly. Preliminary information is available on a simple web-site which will quickly be developed as the project develops.http://www.cambrella.eu/ca.html
Statement on CAMbrella from EU Health and Consumers Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2009-3421&language=EN