Joe De Livera

I am copying the Editorial that appeared in today’s issue of the Daily Mirror Sri Lanka which I hope will interest members of this Forum.

http://print.dailymirror.lk/editorial/106-editorial/56457.html

THE PILL POPPING CULTURE

Saturday, 17 September 2011

Most of us have been brainwashed into believing that life is only possible to be lived to the fullest if the requisite medicinal drugs are taken on a regular basis. Regular health checks are promoted and are being carried out in private hospitals after which the patient is advised by the consultant that unless the drugs prescribed are used, the chances of the patient surviving without catching some life threatening disease in the future are high. It is strange that the patient who does not have any disease is often frightened into taking drugs which can be considered as being unnecessary or non-essential, and are usually sold at high prices often in some hospital pharmacies.

This has led to a pill popping culture that many innocent people, especially those in the upper strata of society, have been following for many years,  purely as ‘insurance’ to ensure that they do not succumb to some disease that has been vaguely mentioned. They are not aware that their reports on blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar are found normal but they have been told it is best to take some drugs to avert the formation of cholesterol and plaque in the arteries and thereby ensure that a possible heart attack in later years, is averted.

It is rarely that the patient is advised to control his or her diet and refrain from eating fatty foods with special reference to fast foods and to also start a daily exercise routine to ensure that he or she sweats it out and replaces the sweat lost with liquids preferably water, in adequate quantities to ensure that the body is kept at peak efficiency.

The unsuspecting patient is not aware that most of the drugs taken have some side effects on the body and this often results in another drug being given at a later consultation to treat the problems caused by the first.  It is also possible that these unnecessary drugs can predispose the patient to other problems and also to be infected by a wide range of diseases including dengue for which there is no known curative drug. But according to Joe De Livera, Sri Lankan representative for Homoeopaths without Borders, a homoeopathic remedy is available for dengue and any other viral flu – as referred to in one of our editorials recently. This is known as Eupatorium Perfoliatum 200c, which is used internationally and has in Sri Lanka, saved the lives of many who caught this disease and were fortunate enough to use this Remedy within a few days after being infected by this highly infectious disease.

Public health experts emphasise that western medical drugs alone cannot possibly cure all diseases in Sri Lanka. There are many forms of alternate medicine practiced here including Ayurveda and Homeopathy both of which are established and practiced and can be co-opted to cure disease, especially Dengue. Unfortunately Homeopathic remedies are not used officially by the medical profession in hospitals where patients continue to suffer as a result of a lack of a National Health Policy. It is fortunate in India that these two curative sciences are accepted and officially used by the government side by side with western medicine to help cure diseases.

Billions of rupees are being spent in importing more than 10,000 varieties of drugs under various brand names. Public health experts have appealed that the state health authorities open their eyes to the realities of life and follow the example of India and make greater use of both Ayurveda and Homeopathy in alleviating human suffering and  eradicating disease.

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