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Registering herbalists will improve patients’ safety, says health secretary

Practitioners in the United Kingdom who supply unlicensed herbal products, including Chinese medicines, will have to register with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council under new plans from the Department of Health.

The health secretary for England, Andy Burnham, said that ensuring registration of herbal practitioners would help prevent unscrupulous practices in the sale of herbal remedies to the public in high street shops and private clinics.

The move follows a consultation with the scientific community and the public in all four countries of the UK last year. It will become law as soon as parliamentary time allows, said a health department spokeswoman.

Mr Burnham said, “Emerging evidence clearly demonstrates that the public needs better protection …