Epoch Times, April 20, 2006 (Central News Agency correspondent Lin Yuli, Berlin) - Traditional Chinese medical therapies such as acupuncture have become increasingly popular in Germany in recent years, though most patients still have to pay out of pocket. After years of debate, the German medical community and health insurance companies have finally decided that, due to the proven efficacy of acupuncture in clinical trials, health insurance will now cover the costs of acupuncture treatments for chronic back pain and knee pain.

The efficacy of acupuncture has long been a contentious topic in Germany. Since 2001, major German insurance companies have funded a 300 million euro annual clinical trial, commissioning acupuncturists nationwide to compare the effectiveness of acupuncture with modern medical treatments for cyclical pain. This is touted as the largest clinical acupuncture research project in the world.

The results of the trial showed that for chronic back pain and knee pain, there was little difference in efficacy between acupuncture at specific points and deliberately chosen non-acupoint locations, but both were more effective in reducing pain compared to conventional treatments. As for headaches, the difference in efficacy between acupuncture and modern medicine was minimal.

A committee composed of German medical institutions, doctors, and health insurance companies regularly convenes to jointly decide on the items covered by health insurance, affecting the medical rights of 90% of the population. However, the decision to cover acupuncture costs comes with a caveat: patients must have suffered from severe back pain or knee pain for at least six months.

Source: http://www. epochtimes. com/ b5/ 4/ 11/ 11/ n714308. htm