Currently Natural Health is not considered an essential service. This denies the nearly 50% of adults and 70% of children in New Zealand, that rely on natural healthcare, access to alternative and complementary health services and medicine during the pandemic.

The practice of using herbal medicines is recognised by both the World Health Organization and the international community. Their clinical usefulness in helping to strengthen the body’s resilience against diseases and combat ill health has a long-standing track record.

It is our right as New Zealanders to have access to all means to promote physical and mental well-being and with the current crisis facing our country, we believe it vital to support citizens in physical and mental distress with all potentially useful interventions. We should have access to our chosen and trusted allied health practitioners and the natural remedies that they prescribe.

We urge the government to fulfill New Zealand’s obligations to respect consumer choices under the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights Regulations 1996, which falls under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994 and under the World Health Organisation’s Traditional Medicine Strategy, 2014-2023.

During the essential mandatory level 4 alert, is is imperative that people confined to isolation still have access to remote consultations with their practitioners and deliveries of prescribed herbal and holistic medicines. For many, at a time of such uncertainty, anxiety and stress, this will be critical to help maintain health, calm and overall well-being to balance tinana, hinengaro & wairua.

Please expedite Natural Health services and products being included as an essential service across Aotearoa.