Homeopathy is a type of alternative medicine based on two basic tenets: the principle of 'like is cured like,' which contradicts the biomedical principle of treatment by 'unlike' medicine, and the use of dilutions ('potencies'). Over the last decades, homeopathy has won over a mass of new advocates, not only among doctors but also among patients. While homeopathy did not enjoy any official recognition in the Soviet period and was even subjected to criticism by the state, it appears it had enough support to survive and still play a role in medicine (Yurchenko 2004: 126). With the end of the Soviet era, homeopathy gradually emerged from the underground in the mid-1990's, gaining official state recognition as a method of treatment (Edict of the Ministry of Public Health and Medical Industry 1995), and holding a stable position on the market for medical products and services (Pesonina et al. 2004). Nevertheless, its status in Russia remains fairly marginal; homeopaths are largely confined to working in private-sector healthcare, they do not receive enough state funding to improve their treatment methods and, according to interviews with homeopaths, they are often ostracised by 'conventional' doctors. The peripheral position occupied by homeopaths in the Russian healthcare system is by no means unique; this is a tendency that can be observed in many developed countries (Degele 2005; Almeida 2012). On the other hand, the institutionalisation of homeopathy in Russia is marked by factors specific to this case. To give an example, in Russia classical homeopathy1 only became widely available as late as the 1990's. The uncompromising position of the Soviet Ministry of Health to homeopathy demanded that homeopaths who wanted to continue practicing had to adapt their treatment methods in such a way that would deviate considerably from classical homeopathy and include a conventional focus that was unsuitable from the outset (H7, H102). As will be shown below, those in favour of adhering to the original principles of homeopathy stand in strong opposition to those apparently deviating from this stance.
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