Frequently Asked Question

Complementary medicines have different and varied definitions dependent on the region. The Medicines and Allied Substances Control (Complementary Medicines) Regulations, 2015 define a complementary medicine as follows:

A complementary medicine means any substance or mixture of substances which is used, or is manufactured, sold or represented as suitable for use, in-

1.  the mitigation or prevention of disease or abnormal physical mental state or the symptoms thereof in human beings or in animals;
2. restoring, correcting or modifying any physical, mental or organic function in man or in animals;

which originates from a plant, mineral, animal or insect and includes substances generally referred to as Aromatherapeutic Substances, Ayurvedic Medicines, Energy Substances or Medicines, Homeopathic Remedies, Nutritional Substances in Pharmaceutical Form, Traditional Chinese Medicines, Traditional Dutch Remedies, Unani Tibb Medicines, Western Herbal Medicines, and such other medicines or remedies as may be approved by the Authority;

This serves as the basis of a complementary medicine in Zimbabwe