UK to stop funding homeopathy medicines

Though it is a well-known fact that homeopathy is useless and equal to placebo, a large amount of scarce public resources are wasted on it by many governments all over the world. Now one such wastage will be stopped soon. The National Health Service in United Kingdom is proposing a ban on providing homeopathy medicines.

 The NHS has announced a ban on homeopathy and herbal medicine as they say it is “misuse of scarce funds”.

Officials today ruled that the treatments are among dozens of medicines which should not be funded by the health service.

In the last five years, the NHS has spent almost £600,000 on homeopathic treatment, despite long running debate about whether alternative remedies work.

Today NHS England ruled that “at best homeopathy is a placebo and a misuse of scarce NHS funds which could be better devoted to treatments that work.”

[Read more…]

A petition to stop training in homeopathy !

Most people in India think homeopathy is accepted as science because Government is strongly promoting it.

Students in India who want to become a doctor write a tough entrance exam. Those who get top ranks usually choose  Scientific medicine while those who miss out by a mark or two choose to become a doctor in Ayurveda or Homeopathy. The students and their parents are made to believe that all are valid scientific ways of treatment. Once they become homeopathy doctors they will have to practice and defend homeopathy.

image

[Read more…]

Lethal mix of pseudoscience, religion and conspiracy theories

Media in the state of Kerala, India, has reported prominently another vaccine preventable death in the state. A 15 year old boy from Malappuram district was the latest victim of the lethal mix of religion, conspiracy theories and pseudoscience. He died yesterday due to diphtheria.

Diphtheria outbreaks and deaths are not a big news in rest of India. India has 10-15 times more Diphtheria cases than any other country in the World. But it is news in Kerala state as it has comparatively much better health care record. Here in Kerala the diphtheria cases and thereby deaths are extremely rare in the last 10-15 years. Average annual incidence of diphtheria was around 10 cases in the whole of the state. But last two years saw a sudden spurt of cases from Malappuram and Kozhikode districts. There were also two deaths last year.

[Read more…]

Some homeopathic thoughts

April 10 is celebrated as World Homeopathy Day as that day is birth day of the founder of that pseudo science, Samuel Hahnemann.

Though it is faith-based and not evidence based, homeopathy is very popular in Indian sub continent. Its popularity is sustained by heavy government funding. India, it is believed, have 195 homeopathy teaching institutions and around 250 thousand registered practitioners. To know the level of state support you need only to see the details of this national event that is being held in New Delhi.

[Read more…]