The Carstens Foundation
|
|
||
| The
Carstens Foundation was established in 1981 by the late President
of Germany Karl Carstens (1914-1992) and his wife Veronica Carstens
MD.The main
objective of the Foundation is the integration and broader acceptance
of homeopathy and complementary medicine in today's medical community.
Therefore all projects and activities funded by the Foundation must
adhere to the standards and guidelines set by current medical scientific
research.The Foundations
aim is to create a bridge between conventional and complementary medicine,
to achieve real integration on the basis of science and research.
The vision of the Foundation is that physicians of the future will
be familiar with both scientific and complementary medicine as well
as homeopathy, so that they will be in a position to decide which
kind of therapy is the best for each individual patient. |
The
Foundation supports science and research, promotes continued medical
education and the new academic generation in the fields of naturopathy,
homeopathy and unconventional or complementary methods in medicine.
The emphasis of the Foundation is on homeopathy as well as on traditional
European naturopathy, especially phytomedicine.Basic
research, clinical research, epidemiological studies and theoretical
medicine are also supported. In the field of promoting continued medical
education emphasis is placed on the publication and distribution of
scientific results on homeopathy and complementary medicine. Great importance is placed on supporting a new generation of academics: in addition to the doctoral program, every student initiative for the establishment of teaching homeopathy and complementary medicine at universities is supported and encouraged. |
|
| Funds and Funding | ||
| Until
now the Foundation has supported more than 250 projects with a total
funding of over 13 Mio. Euro. The annual budget is 1.5 Mio Euro. In
this respect the Carstens Foundation is the largest institution for
the funding of science and research in the fields of homeopathy and
complementary medicine in Europe.The Foundation
raises its funds from the general public via its supporting association
'Natur und Medizin'. This entails special obligations for those being
supported: to use the funds sparingly, to be willing to describe a
project or the results intelliglibly to all as well as taking into
account the interests of the population. |
Support
by the Carstens Foundation is based on the willingness of those involved
to co-operate closely with the Foundation in planning and conducting
a project as well as utilizing the results.Therefore
the Foundation offers advice on technical, methodological and biometrical
questions. The projects are usually supervised on site. The Foundation
organizes expert meetings and symposia and supports the publishing
of results. The attendence at the annual
meeting of project leaders under the patronage of Veronica Carstens
is obligatory. |
|
| 'NATUR und MEDIZIN' - the Supporting Association | ||
|
Unlike
most other foundations and trusts, the Carstens Foundation relies
mainly on public support. When it was established, one of the main
objectives was to raise funds to increase the Foundation's capital
base. |
Her
popularity in Germany is immense. Throughout the years Mrs. Carstens
along with her team at Natur und Medizin have established one of the
largest grass roots movements in the field of alternative and complementary
medicine in Europe.Natur
und Medizin has set up an efficient and essential information system
for the public. It publishes six newsletters a year containing health
tips and other valuable information; it publishes literature and brochures
on a variety of topics ranging from 'Allergies' to 'Vaccination'.In addition,
the Natur und Medizin-team answer innumerable letters and telephone
calls from members and other patients seeking advice on alternative
treatments and questions on health. NATUR und MEDIZIN |
|