Welcome to HRI
HRI is a UK-based charity dedicated to promoting high quality research in homeopathy at an international level. The charity was founded by physicist, Dr Alexander Tournier, who previously worked as an independent researcher for Cancer Research UK, conducting interdisciplinary research at the boundaries between mathematics, physics and biology.
How does homeopathy work? What can homeopathy treat?
Scientists, doctors and homeopathic clinicians working with HRI are looking for answers to these key questions, using the most rigorous methods available.
What is homeopathy?
Homeopathy is a system of medicine based on the principle that “like treats like”, whereby a substance which causes symptoms when given to healthy individuals, can be used in small doses to treat patients with those same, or similar, symptoms.1
Homeopathy can be broadly categorised into two main types of treatment: individualised homeopathy (IH) involves a personalised prescription, selected according to the patient’s specific presenting symptoms, usually following a consultation with a qualified practitioner; in non-individualised homeopathy (non-IH) the choice of homeopathic medicine is determined entirely by the clinical diagnosis, based on the common symptoms or causative agent of the condition being treated, rather than a patient’s specific presenting symptoms.
Individualised homeopathy can be further categorised into the following sub-types:
Individualised homeopathy – unrestricted: prescription of any available single-constituent HMP(s), selected according to the symptom profile of each patient, during a consultation with a qualified prescriber.
Individualised homeopathy – restricted: prescription selected from a pre-determined list of one or more single-constituent HMP(s), according to the symptom profile of each patient, via a consultation, or questionnaire, or both. Patients whose symptoms do not match an HMP on the restricted list are excluded.
Homeopathy is used widely around the world, with an estimated 32 million people in the UK (49% of the population) and 193 million people in the USA (58% of the population) having used it. India leads the way with approximately 1.2 billion people (83% of the population) having used homeopathy, with 100 million relying exclusively on it for their healthcare needs.2
Why do we need more research?
A form of medicine this widely used needs to be researched, yet scientific research in homeopathy is a relatively new field. Consequently, there are many important, unanswered questions, such as, How effective is homeopathy compared with conventional medicine for specific medical conditions? What does homeopathy cost compared with existing treatments? What effect do homeopathic medicines have ‘in vitro’?
Researchers around the world have begun to investigate these kinds of questions and some exciting results have been published, but more research is essential if we are to find the definitive answers both patients and healthcare providers need.
Why do we need HRI?
Homeopathy is a complex subject that is only just starting to be explored. From what we know so far, the evidence suggests that homeopathy could provide solutions to many of the challenges facing us today – from overuse of antibiotics to spiralling healthcare budgets – but to know for sure, we need more hard data.
Despite its potential, research in homeopathy is not a government priority. For example, in the UK only 0.0085%3 of the total medical research budget is spent on the entire field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, of which homeopathy is only one example. Until this changes, the work of HRI is essential.
“HRI has been a fantastic addition to the world-wide homeopathic community. In only 10 years they have become a leading authority on homeopathic research and worked tirelessly to present the evidence around the world.” – Faculty of Homeopathy
HRI relies entirely on donations. With your help, we can carry out the high quality research needed to determine the precise role homeopathy could, and should, play in the healthcare systems of the future.
To learn more about the work of HRI see our Research Strategies and Priorities’.
As HRI is a registered UK charity, more information is also available on the Charity Commission website.
- Hahnemann S. Organon of the Medical Art. Ed. W. Brewster O’Reilly (6th ed.). Washington: Redond, 1996
- Survey conducted by Toluna Harris Interactive. Summary published on Harris Interactive website 17 July, 2024 in French and English | Link
- George T Lewith, Funding for CAM, BMJ. Nov 10, 2007; 335(7627): 951 | PubMed
