Acupuncture is not recognized in Greece as a scientific medical practice and it is not taught in the country’s higher education institutions. At the moment, some doctors practise acupuncture – either in combination or alone – once they have received appropriate training. There are Pain Clinics in some public hospitals which use acupuncture for patient relief. The EU’s framework on the matter is still under construction, but it is doubtful that acupuncture will be placed definitively within public health structures because it conflicts with the philosophy of the pharmaceutical industry and of standard western medicine.