How alternative is 'alternative medicine'?

Respondents were also asked how they feel about more 'alternative' treatments such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, herbal remedies, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, meditation and massage.

The vast majority (83%) had not visited any alternative medicine practitioners in the last year.

Indeed, Serbians don't just avoid doctors, they avoid alternative practitioners too - with 92% saying that have not sought care in the past year. By contrast, although the numbers are small, Indians and Canadians were at least twice as likely to have used alternative medicine, with 12% having visited four or more times in the last year. This finding made sense to Monica Gangwani, Head of Synovate Healthcare in India:

"India has a rich tradition of using natural / herbal products for therapeutic purposes. This can be partially explained by the high incidence of self medication and therefore the reliance on alternative medication and home remedies to take care of day-to-day health issues.

"The other important reason is the strong roots that Ayurveda and Ayurvedic healing has had culturally. It's interesting that Ayurveda is increasingly being seen as a part of mainstream means of curing. Alternative medicines have strong cues of 'safe' and 'no side effects' and perceived benefits of long-term goodness as opposed to the quick short-term effects of 'modern' medicines."

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