CUERNAVACA, MEXICO is so full of longings.
No puedo vivir sin amor, laments the alcoholic ex-British consul played by that great actor Albert Finney in Malcolm Lowery's book Under the Volcano.
I searched and searched, asked multiple shop keepers and coffee shop owners , where is Cafe Geneva , where our beloved Gabo (to the Cubans), Gabriel Garcia Marquez would sit and have his coffee. No trace and I was sad.
The third connection was my chance encounter with a BOOK, named aptly Medical Nemesis while I was still a student. I was so attracted to this idea and I am certain some of the arguments of the philosopher still stays in my brain. I sought him out but he had died in Germany. (He was Austrian)
His name was Ilan Illich.
He was well known for his pronouncement: the major threat to the health in the world is Modern Medicine.
Why did Ivan Illich come up to memory this morning, on this lovely day, when my mind feels almost euphoric?
Over the years, I have met some human beings who take their healing duties seriously, one of them is Dr JK who lives in South Dakota but practices Acute Medicine in neighbouring states.
I asked him why is he so keen on working so much? Last week he worked about 140 hours, that means he was virtually living in the ICU and snatching sleep whenever he can.
I knew it was not money, he was not that kind of person.
this was his answer:
I have a gift to heal people and especially with Covid I can change lives. I have R brain ischemic stroke who came in could not stand 2 days ago now is walking with standby assist after starting John Berg Protocol. It is too amazing to miss. They think I am a rock star here.
and he added:
I do the things that work.
We discussed about the lack of courage of ill prepared medical professionals who are given responsibility far above their capacities and thus very afraid of practising medicine outside of the cookbook textbook method (Medicine is a human science and not a mathematical science)
Why did a Catholic theologian, influenced by that great theologian philosopher, Paulo Freire, go on to influence multitudes of people about humanitarian medicine?
Look at the COVID clusters in the USA in the. past few days..
Compare that with life in Japan. If you have a chance you can watch the documentary in NHK Japan
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/hometown/20211024/5003179/
Respect for age shows in the lives of the Japanese (perhaps the western influence may erode it in the future). This 75 year old woman whose home was destroyed by a flood, had it rebuilt with the help of volunteers and the city authorities and she wistfully says: I do not know how long I have left to live and I want to spend it here, This house holds so much memories for me, this is where I want to be.
With Covid raging and millions of people dying without getting appropriate treatment (Brasil and India on top of the list followed by USA where there is treatment but not successful for various sociocultural reasons), I think we have to rethink the role of the society in the health of the individual. Teach them to prevent diseases. The food industry single handedly is responsible for at least fifty percent of the chronic diseases and until they cooperate and bring healthy chemical free food to the people or people going back to gardening and growing their own food, this situation is not going to change.
Teach people to fish, rather than giving them a fish a day.
Teach people to look after themselves, pry them away from doctors and nurses and medical establishment until it is necessary, as these professionals are educated in DISEASE care and not HEALTH Care.
A good friend of mine, M vP, has a programme in Cambodia where he takes people from the community and educate them to take care of the health of the community they live in: in an appropriately economic way, reliable and preventative.. Peer to Peer education about HEALTH. There are no doctors or nurses involved in the day to day care and you can see his results in that poor country can match many of the richer countries and certainly has better results than most of the developing countries who are eager to import the latest gadgets and machinery and gimmicks and sell them for a profit to an eager but ignorant populace (a very small percentage of the population). mopotsyo.org
Health before Profit but wherever I go I see Profit before Health. A good friend of mine ruefully confided in me: the way Diabetes being managed in his country USA is very good for his investments.. he said much to my chagrin: Diabetes is good for the Stock Market..
Ivan Illich stood against all that
hope some of the people who listened to him can influence others..
I tell the medical students when i have a chance to preach. If you are going into this because you want to make money, if you have good franchise you will make more money, if you learn how to play stock market you will make more money. Become a doctor only if you are interested in alleviating the pain and misery of others and that would mean, without doubt, sacrifices at a personal , family and financial level . Good Luck.
IVAN ILLICH MEDICAL NEMESIS
