Natural Health Products are not drugs.

Natural Health Products are not drugs.

It is election time here in Canada, so for you activists out there if you want to do something real and constructive for the regulation of Natural Health Products in Canada, I have a task for you all.  It is easy, does not take much time and can put OUR issues in front of all our elected Canadian officials, regardless their party affiliation.  AND IT IS A POSITIVE THING TO DO.

There are a variety of messages that you can offer but most important, please take the time to actually deliver the message.  Natural Health Products and the Natural Health Product Directorate should be removed from the Therapeutic Products division of Health Canada. And the use of Natural Health Products should be incorporated into Canada’s National Health Policy.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Nowhere is this truer than in our health policies and procedures.

What are Natural Health Products?

Under the Natural Health Products Regulations, which came into effect on January 1, 2004, natural health products (NHPs) are defined as:

ü  Vitamins and minerals

ü  Herbal remedies

ü  Homeopathic medicines

ü  Traditional medicines such as traditional Chinese medicines

ü  Probiotics

Other products like amino acids and essential fatty acids

NHPs must be safe to use as over-the-counter products and not need a prescription to be sold.

What to do?

Go to: www.nhpsnotdrugs.ca/  and follow the prompts.  Send at least an Email (a real letter is 100 times better) to the candidates in your riding and then, if you really want to get active, go to: http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E

And get busy communicating with as many candidates as you can across Canada. 

Or simply take the core messages from www.nhpsnotdrugs.ca/  and start asking the questions and demanding the answers...get the press involved...make this an issue in this election.  Whatever party forms a government is less important than insuring that our issues are on their mind.

I have been in this industry for approaching 40 years and I think the information at www.nhpsnotdrugs.ca/  is solid, well thought out and reasonable and if we can convey these messages and achieve these goals we could have one of the best environments in the world for the regulated use of high quality Natural Health Products.

Bill Reynolds

Reynolds & Associates

Former Executive Director of the Canadian Health Food Association