Australians turn to natural therapies in the millions

Australians are continuing to turn to natural therapies for their preventative health and wellbeing management with research revealing over 68% of the population having used at least one complementary medicine in the last 12 months.

The third annual Natural Medicine Week 21 – 27 May 2018, organised by the leading association for natural practitioners, Australian Traditional-Medicine Society (ATMS), is a time for the industry to celebrate its major role in the healthcare of Australians.

As the only event of its kind, Natural Medicine Week features workshops, clinic open days and promotions from over 100 businesses throughout Australia, focused on educating the public and policymakers on the three primary models of natural medicine: Ingestive Therapies, Bodywork and Massage, and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

However, it is not just the health of Australians that benefit from their 69.2 million visits to a natural medicine practitioner every year2 , said Mr Charles Wurf, CEO of ATMS, it is also a major contributor to the economy, and continuously growing.

“Natural medicine has seen a massive 3.1 per cent growth in Australia over the last year . We know there are over 28,000 small businesses in this sector which employ 36,487 people and contribute $4.7 billion to the economy annually.

“This is a burgeoning industry and major employer that is also supporting Australian’s choice to seek highly regarded preventative health and wellbeing management care.”

ATMS consumer surveys during Natural Medicine Week 2016 & 2017 found 93.85% of the sample had consulted a natural medicine practitioner, while 96.61% of participants describe natural medicine as ‘effective or very effective’.

“Natural Medicine Week 2018, is a pivotal event of the year in which our 10,000-strong membership community band together to raise awareness of the work natural medicine practitioners do and to share their knowledge and experience with consumers who want to learn more,” said Mr Wurf.

This year ATMS are calling on consumers to share their personal success stories of using natural therapies via naturalmedicineweek.com.au/customer-survey

To learn more about Natural Medicine Week, 21 – 27 May 2018 please visit: www.naturalmedicineweek.com.au.