What were the highlights of the conference for you?

This was the first time I had attended a conference devoted purely to homeopathy. It was good to get a feel for the Australian homeopathic community given I spent most of my career in the US.

My current role is focused on administration, so I enjoyed the chance to be immersed again with practitioners.

I was impressed by the turnout of about two hundred people from across Australia and I thought the networking opportunities were particularly strong. It was a good opportunity to meet leaders in the profession whom I had heard about. I was also pleased to see so many of our staff, students and graduates attending and participating as speakers.

What stayed with you from the keynote speech from respected homeopath Jeremy Sherr?

It was wonderful to hear first hand about the incredible contribution homeopathy is making to treat AIDS patients in rural Africa where Jeremy has treated 2000 patients, and to see this form of medicine being used in an international context.

Somewhere between 24 and 30 million Africans are infected with HIV and 1.5 to 2 millions die of AIDS each year, leaving 14 million orphans. Jeremy spoke about how his homeopathic treatments are helping patients boost their immune system to fight the disease.

He shared that his patients have reported an increase in energy and wellbeing and an improvement in the side effects of their anti-retroviral treatment. His treatments are also successfully treating HIV-related infections and help reduce the occurrence of malaria in these communities.

For more information about Jeremy’s project visit homeopathyforhealthinafrica.org.

Was there a takeaway message from the conference you'd like to share with other natural health practitioners?

I believe there is a huge opportunity for natural medicine in developing countries, a finding backed by Jeremy Sherr’s presentation. In many cases natural medicine offers a more economically sustainable model that can be used in countries where conventional healthcare is out of reach to most people.

I urge everyone to learn more about these types of programs and to promote and support them, as they really help people and enhance the reputations of our professions.