Victoria reviews homeopathy course

Victoria University is distancing itself from a course it is offering in the controversial alternative medicine homeopathy.

The course "Homoeopathy: increasing your health awareness" is being offered through its Community Continuing Education programme in a one-off two hour lecture.

The lecture by Art Buehler, a senior religious studies lecturer advertises it will teach participants about the "internationally recognised, scientific medical system"

Victoria University's humanities faculty pro-vice chancellor Professor Deborah Willis told the Dominion Post that the lecture was not an approved course saying "that the lecture should have been advertised with more careful wording".

She said they were reviewing whether the lecture would go forward in its current form.

Homeopathy is an alternative theory of medicine which advocates treating patients with heavily diluted amounts of substances which would cause similar symptoms in a healthy person.

Medical practitioners and scientists are critical of the technique and say it has no scientific basis.

- NZPA