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The Prince of Wales is calling for millions of pounds to be spent on researching alternative medicines, which could lead to their widespread availability on the NHS.

He said current funding levels were "pitiful", and called for a national strategy for investigating the clinical effects of complementary treatments.

He said "serious funding" was also needed for bursaries, fellowships and research centres in universities to support fledgling research into complementary remedies.

"With new funding the Foundation for Integrated Medicine, of which I am the president and founder, could provide a focus to co-ordinate this strategy, allocate funding, provide a network resource, train researchers, disseminate information and monitor research development," Charles wrote in an article in The Times.

About £1.6 billion was spent on the booming alternative medicine business last year, but less than 8p out of every £100 of NHS medical research funds went on complementary treatments.

Charles has been treated with osteopathy and has experimented with herbal treatments and aromatherapy for his persistent back problems.

"If they are proved to work, they should be made more available on the NHS," he said.

The call comes after a House of Lords report published last month cast doubt over a whole range of alternative treatments such as crystal therapy, dowsing and Chinese medicine, saying there was "little credible evidence" for them.

The 15-month inquiry by the Lords' science and technology committee said there should be tougher regulation of the complementary medicine business to protect consumers. It said patients were being put at risk because of the lack of research and the reliance on self-regulation throughout the complementary field.

But the report also said that therapies with a proven track record of research, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy and osteopathy, should be available on the NHS.