Professor Michael Kidd.

Antony Scholefield THE Federal Government says it will

lift the ban on private health insurers funding naturopathy, yoga, Western herbal medicine and tai chi.

It follows a review of alternative medicine evidence led by former RACGP president Professor Michael Kidd.

The review started in 2019— a few days after the ban was introduced— but reported its findings this year.

Professor Kidd’ s team recommended letting insurers fund seven

alternative therapies but maintaining the ban on nine others, including aromatherapy, homeopathy and rolfing.

Last month, speaking before the election, Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler said the government had accepted the recommendations.

“ The government will ensure timely re-inclusion of benefits for natural therapies so this coverage is available as soon as possible,” Mr Butler said.

The review supported cover for naturopathy on the basis of moderate-certainty evidence

that supplements could improve some outcomes for some conditions.

These included probiotics for irritable bowel syndrome, antioxidants for fatigue and diabetes, and zinc for recurrent infections in children.

The report said that enough evidence showed that the Alexander technique— health education combined with gentle hand contact— improved physical function for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. And shiatsu had enough evidence showing it improved recovery

after minimally invasive surgery, according to the review.

Mr Butler said:“ I thank Professor Kidd and the whole review team for the comprehensive review, which will also be a valuable resource for Australians looking for more information about the effectiveness of natural therapies.”

He stressed that insurers made their own decisions on whether to cover the seven specific therapies and how they would credential the alternative medicine practitioners.

Ciara Seccombe A CLEAR answer has eluded the world’ s best minds for decades, but what about the mind of Robert F Kennedy Jr?

The US Secretary of Health and Human Services announced last month that the world would know by September what was behind the rise in autism cases.

“ We’ ve launched a massive testing and research effort that’ s going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world,” Mr Kennedy told a televised meeting of US President Donald Trump’ s cabinet.

“ By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we’ ll be able to eliminate those exposures.”

He and his Make America Healthy Again Commission would co-ordinate the research program to get to the bottom of the rise in autism rates in the US.

Researchers worldwide expressed concerns about what those answers might be, given Mr Kennedy’ s previous support of the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism.

President Trump hinted at an outside agent being responsible for the rising rates.

“ There’ s got to be something artificial out there that’ s doing this,” he told Mr Kennedy during the cabinet meeting.

He added:“ You stop taking something, you stop eating something or maybe it’ s a [ vaccine ] shot, but something’ s causing it.”

Robert F Kennedy Jr.