USA
According to a survey conducted in 2012 by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), 2.2% of the adult population and 1.8% of children were using homeopathy (1).
The United States do not have one national policy regarding traditional medicines including homeopathy. Legal frameworks are the responsibility of state, provincial or territorial jurisdictions, and regulation varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Connecticut, Arizona, and Nevada have homeopathic medical boards which license medical doctors who specialise in homeopathy. In general, licensed medical physicians are empowered by state medical licensing laws to prescribe drugs as defined by federal law, which include any medicines recognised in the United States’ official Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia or official National Formulary. This means that licensed physicians in all states and territories of the United States may prescribe homeopathic medicines to their patients and may do so explicitly to diagnose, prevent, treat, mitigate and cure disease. (2)
In 26 States, homeopathy is included under the licensing for naturopaths, which requires graduates to undertake and pass the Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examination (NPLEX). The examination includes a section on homeopathy which all exam takers must pass in order to obtain a license (even if they don‘t plan to use homeopathy in their practices). (2)
Eleven States have ‘Health Freedom Laws’, which allow unlicensed practitioners of homeopathy (and other natural, alternative, complementary and integrative healing arts) to practise so long as they accurately and fully disclose their qualifications, training, certification and other background relevant to the practice of homeopathy to all clients without embellishment; declare their unlicensed status; and do not claim any ability to diagnose, prevent, treat, mitigate or cure disease using homeopathy. (2)
Medical homeopaths are certified and / or represented by a number of organisations including the American Institute of Homeopathy (3) and the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians (4).
Homeopathic practitioners trained in classical homeopathy without a medical qualification can seek accreditation by The Accreditation Commission for Homeopathic Education in North America (ACHENA), an independent accreditation agency that assesses the educational standards of homeopathic schools and programs. ACHENA Commissioners represent homeopathic educators, practitioners, students, allied health professionals and the public (5). Another certifying body is the Council for Homeopathic Certification, which awards practitioners the CCH (Certified Classical Homeopath) designation via an exam that establishes a practitioner’s recognised standard of professional and ethical competence in classical homeopathy (6). Practitioner directories are also provided through the North American Society of Homeopaths (NASH) (7) and the National Center for Homeopathy (8).
Canada
In Canada, homeopathy is legally permissible and close to 10.3 million Canadians use homeopathy (9). Homeopathy is classified as a form of complementary and alternative medicine and its legal status and regulation varies by province. In Ontario, for example, homeopaths can register with the College of Homeopaths of Ontario, a regulatory body which sets standards for practice (10).
High quality training in classical homeopathy is provided by the Canadian Academy of Homeopathy (11) and the Canadian College of Homeopathic Medicine (12).
Canadian homeopaths are organised through and represented by the Canadian Society of Homeopaths, which provides a registration process for classically-trained homeopaths, requiring high standards of professional competence (13).
References:
(3) https://homeopathyusa.org/
(6) https://homeopathcertification.org/
(7) http://www.homeopathy.org/
(8) https://www.homeopathycenter.org/
(9) https://canadiansforhomeopathy.com/
(10) https://collegeofhomeopaths.com/index.html
(12) https://homeopathycanada.com/
(13) https://www.csoh.ca/