Discover the Legacy Shaping Homeopathy’s Future
By Mark Land, M.S., RAC-US, AAHP President
The legacy of AAHP is in substantially shepherding the development of the regulatory framework over the last decades. The resulting stable environment has attracted investment and business has flourished.
The stability in the marketplace increased broader retail access to and visibility of the products. In turn, a broader audience continues to discover and benefit from homeopathic products. Much is built upon AAHP’s regulatory expertise and decades of work with FDA and FTC.
The development of these positive marketing conditions would not have been possible without the support of AAHP member companies, and the collegial relationship fostered through working together. Membership in AAHP is based on the following code of ethics.
All persons engaged in the development, research, manufacture, distribution, marketing, and sales of homeopathic drug products owe a special duty to the public seeking alleviation of suffering, restoration of health and protection against disease. Physicians, pharmacists, patients and consumers depend upon our integrity to provide them with safe, reliable, and efficacious products, correct and honest information and dedicated, sincere, and professional service. Members have the responsibility to uphold the spirit and intent of the following:
- Members support the Principle of Similars, the primary foundation of homeopathy.
- Members support the manufacture, distribution, marketing, and sales according to all applicable regulations and guidelines, including but not limited to the HPUS, CFR/CPGs, FDA’s GMPs and labeling requirements, worker safety, and environmental requirements.
- Members concur to maintain a level of professional competence by promoting training and education to stay current with regulations and industry requirements.
- Members concur to respect the values of competitors, recognizing differences of viewpoint or philosophy, when consistent under regulations.
- Members act with honesty, integrity, and sincerity in all professional relationships.
- Members concur to manufacture, distribute, market, and sell only those homeopathic drug products that uphold the reputation, integrity, and growth of homeopathy in the United States.
- Members agree to conduct marketing activities using accurate information and fair balance.
The motto of AAHP is “Quality, Integrity, and Trust since 1923.” The elements of our motto are expressed or implied by our code of ethics. I can say with confidence that these words have guided our association through many challenging decisions.
Thus, AAHP will strive to adequately and equitably represent a growing membership whose business objectives become increasingly divergent. This is reflective of an increasingly heterogeneous homeopathic community with a common goal of providing high-quality compliant homeopathic drug products to American consumers and healthcare practitioners.
This calls to mind our ethical goal #4: “Members concur to respect the values of competitors, recognizing differences of viewpoint or philosophy, when consistent under regulations.” Although AAHP’s mission to create a fertile climate for the business of homeopathic medicines to thrive has remained steadfast throughout the years, emerging challenges dictate the necessity of new perspectives. AAHP’s work in the immediate future will focus on:
- Stabilizing the regulatory framework for homeopathic drug products.
- Supporting the work of the Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia Convention of the United States.
- Encouraging best practices in manufacturing and quality of homeopathic drug products through education.
As the market continues to grow, AAHP will continue to work for solutions to tomorrow’s issues, including:
- Breaking through to mainstream shoppers and developing practices that a unified association membership can do to accomplish this goal.
- Educating manufacturers and marketers who are unfamiliar with required compliance measures.
- Defending the reputation of the industry and combatting disinformation facilitated by social media that, among other effects, destabilize the retail environment.
AAHP is proud to have served the homeopathic community for its first 100 years and looks forward to advancing homeopathy during our next 100 years!