Vienna (OTS) – For a long time, Traditional European Medicine (TEM) was almost unknown to the public. In the meantime, however, the potential of regionally rooted healing knowledge is being rediscovered. The TEM Forum – the umbrella organization in the making – is currently meeting in Vienna and sees great opportunities: Traditional medicine is a permanent fixture in the WHO, and TEM procedures have already been listed as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the Indian medicine Ayurveda have an established place in the health consciousness of Austrians and are widely recognized. “Centuries-old local healing knowledge, which is used under the term Traditional European Medicine (TEM), is still unknown to many,” says PD Dr. habil. Karl-Heinz Steinmetz, healthcare manager and medical historian. “There has always been a holistic medical system with tradition in Europe. So we don’t need to look far away if we’re looking for a proven art of healing to complement modern, cutting-edge medicine.”
European umbrella organization TEM Forum recently initiated
Around traditional European medicine, which has been around since around 500 BC. The TEM Forum meets as a European umbrella organization in the process of becoming established internationally
14th-16th June in Vienna. The forum brings together groups and people from Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, France, Greece and Liechtenstein. President Karl-Heinz Steinmetz formulates the goals as “to achieve pan-European recognition for the traditional healing art of Europe and to position TEM as an effective resource for health care and medicine”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) deals intensively with traditional medicine (under the term TCIM = Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine). “At the moment TCM and Ayurveda still dominate. We want to help ensure that TEM receives recognized terminology and benchmarks that have long existed for Asian medical systems,” says Steinmetz. “The so-called ‘Gujarat Declaration’ on traditional medicine, which was adopted at a WHO world summit in August 2023, is an important step in the journey, and we are currently preparing for the new project phase 2025-2034, which is about to start.”
“Modern Western medicine focuses on medication and surgery, which is a great strength in accident and acute medicine as well as serious illnesses. “It uses the latest medical technology that makes innovative treatment approaches possible,” said former Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat, MBA, putting the importance of European healing knowledge in perspective. “The TEM, on the other hand, is structured holistically. It relies on the broad-spectrum effects of medicinal plants, manual procedures and applications, etc. It provides building blocks that can perfectly complement today’s conventional medicine – especially in the area of prevention and treatment of chronic or degenerative diseases.”
Fortunately, says Rauch-Kallat, this is increasingly being recognized in expert circles.
TEM is increasingly proven by studies and published in Pub-Med database
“TEM is a therapeutic option,” emphasizes Steinmetz. “But TEM is also traditional medicine. It is now being researched in appropriate study designs based on a transparent methodology, and the results are published in specialist journals.”
There are already some excellent studies on the safety and effectiveness of TEM, which can be easily researched in the Pub-Med database by entering the English terms or, in the case of medicinal plants, the Latin names.
Listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO
In addition, traditional medicine is fundamentally considered an “intangible cultural heritage” within the meaning of the UNESCO Convention of 2003. This is also the reason why the UNESCO Austrian National Commission is acting as patron of this year’s TEM Forum meeting in Vienna. From the field of traditional medicine in Europe, among other things, the following emerged pubs and that Healing knowledge of the Pinzgauers already listed by UNESCO.
Healing knowledge of the Pinzgau people as a prime example
Due to the disdain for “home remedies” from the 1960s onwards, many recipes for traditional European medicines such as homemade ointments and tinctures that had been handed down for centuries disappeared. To counteract this, the Pinzgauers around Theresia Harrer-Vitzthum, who formed the TEH association, began collecting and documenting traditional healing knowledge in 2007.
The TEH Association now has a list of 106 recipes that include various plants, foods and resins that are particularly frequently used. In order for a recipe to be passed on, its effectiveness must be proven over several generations. “The important thing is that the remedies used, such as pitch, arnica or St. John’s wort, are locally available, embedded in the cultural context and therefore inextricably linked to the region.”
, emphasizes Theresia Harrer Vitzthum. The people of Saalachtal have a special connection to resins, especially spruce, fir and larch resin, which are said to have an astringent and disinfecting effect. In addition, St. John’s wort oil, for example, is used for rubbing and care. It is important to know the effects of plants well in order to use traditionally used herbs correctly.
The pioneering work of the TEH association will be honored with the renowned 2024 ANME (Association for Natural Medicine in Europe) sponsorship award at the gala evening of the TEM Forum Vienna.
TEM as a component in health care
“The traditional medical systems from China, India and Tibet have played an important role in health care since the 1970s: namely as an extension, rounding off and supplementing conventional medicine in the sense of holistic integrative medicine,” says Mag. Erika Sander, Secretary General of the Austrian Society from the Golden Cross. “TEM is only just being rediscovered as an equal component.”
“We want to support this as an institution with a focus on prevention and precaution,” says Sander, “because we are convinced that in the domestic healthcare system the focus is already too much on repair medicine and preventative approaches are not promoted enough.” The TEM is well suited to introducing people to self-responsible health care.”
Photos can be found at this link: https://we.tl/t-VIXfalowI6
About the Austrian Society of the Golden Cross
The Austrian Society of Golden Crosses (ÖGGK) looks back on over 130 years of history and has been dedicated to the topic of health since it was founded in 1893. For a long time known primarily as the sponsor of the Goldenes Kreuz private clinic, the company now focuses on health promotion and prevention as a non-profit organization. Under the motto “We accompany you through life – through all phases of life and in all areas of life.” ÖGGK offers health offers in the areas of nutrition or exercise, benefits in the medical field, lectures and events in the art and culture sector. www.oeggk.at
About the TEM forum
The TEM Forum is a pan-European umbrella organization in the making – when it comes to traditional European medicine. It is thanks to the initiative of Karl-Heinz Steinmetz and Louis Hutter to professionalize TEM and to bring the various TEM players from all over Europe together at one table in order to use synergies. www-tem-forum.org
Questions & Contact:
Austrian Society of the Golden Cross
Mag. Miriam Eder, MA
PR & Communication
01/ 996 80 92 – 40
does@oeggk.at
www.oeggk.at