[Academic medicine and complementary medicine differ from each other in reasoning and evaluation but not in goals].

The principal objective of all medical activity is to prevent deterioration of health, but also its recuperation, when it has been lost, by mobilisation of inner, natural resources and the commitment of practical knowledge about ill-health. This is less true not for individuals with regard to their proper care, than for practitioners of the arts and sciences of healing towards those who seek their help, regardless of the 'school' to which they may belong. If such objectives are generally accepted, the way to their accomplishment is open. However relevant and justifiable differing intentions may be, they become difficult to materialize if energy is squandered in futile disputes over territorial rights. It is the purpose of the Swiss National Science Foundation's 'Komplementärmedizin' Programme (NFP 34) to build bridges between different territories. (See the Table of Projects currently being undertaken at the end of this article.)