Complementary medical practitioners may be a distinct minority in places such as Europe, North America and Australia, but in other countries the number of practitioners and the people who use their services are in the majority. Many practitioners practise without qualification or adequate training, and in response to this the World Health Organization has recommended that governments develop national policies that include regulation of practice, education, training and licensing. In this report the experiences of 16 countries in regards to this issue are reviewed. [Introduction]