by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
What do I mean by “real health care”?
Real heath care must be proactive rather than t reactive, based on prevention rather than on intervention. It needs a holistic approach,
However, in many countries, whether in the Americas or in Europe this is not the case.
In most cases it is treating and illness and the symptoms of an illness rather than the underlying causes of it and primarily working on preventing illness happening in the first place.
The British National Health Service (NHS) is slowly coming around to that kind of more holistic thinking. But we still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to treatments of the non-conventional kind, such as homeopathy, herbal remedies and the likes of copper jewelry for easing the pain from arthritis. Also preventative measures such as meditation, breathing exercises, the use of water, honey, etc., are not, as yet, taken seriously.
Herbal and other natural remedies are being proven on an almost daily basis now, such as Valerian Root being better than Prozac and Honey as a wound healing agent but still... Doctors still are agents, often, it would appear, of the pharmaceutical industry. In fact sometimes it appears as if many GPs (family doctors) are “in the pay” of the various pharmaceutical companies and sometimes it not just appears thus but it is thus and in fact very obvious too.
In other EU countries family doctors prescribe homeopathic treatments and herbal and natural remedies alongside the so-called conventional treatments and drugs. There is no anti-alternative medicine lobby in the Netherlands, for example, amongst GPs and the Dutch public health service. The opposite in fact seems to be the case and the doctors prescribe either as and where appropriate and often side-by-side.
In Britain and in the United States the pharmaceutical companies enforce the tune, however, and politicians, hospitals and doctors seem to be beholden to them and often even in their pay.
The American so-called health care system and especially as regards to changes and improvements to it are hindered and hampered by the fact that too many politicians are in the pay of the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industy.
However, the problem is that much of the so-called health care is not dealing with keeping people healthy and with prevention of disease but with treating disease and the symptoms of the same rather than the underlying causes. This approach is what needs changing more than anything.
We need, in the USA and Britain, a new health care, a new way. But will we get it?
The way we go at the moment will cost us all dearly whether or not we have a public health service, such as we have in Britain and other EU countries, or a system as in the USA to this moment.
It will cost us in lost revenues to the states as well as in lost productivity to companies and municipalities and it will cost us in actual cost of providing the care for the sick people.
Prevention is needed and getting and keeping people well rather than waiting until someone is ill and then treating the illness by treating just the symptoms, for that is the way conventional medicine, generally, works.
A new holistic approach is needed to health care and it needs to be a proper health care for what is thus termed presently really is a sick care.
It is up to each and every one of us to demand such a new health care service. It is not going to come by itself. The lobby groups will try all they can to prevent it.
Me must demand a new holistic health care system and only we can do that.
© 2009
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