There is an outbreak of Diphtheria in Bangladesh affecting the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. Diphtheria is a highly contagious disease that affects the nose and throat, and can lead to breathing difficulties, heart failure, paralysis and death. It is reported that as many as 160 new cases of the disease are being reported every day, and that it has already killed at least 27 people.
The mainstream media is today reporting that a team of more than 40 doctors and nurses from the British NHS are travelling to Bangladesh to help tackle an outbreak following a request from the World Health Organization. Apparently they will spend six weeks there (BBC News).
Not much is heard about Diphtheria in the wealthier, more advanced nations of the world. It is a disease of poverty, poor diet, and squalor. In the 19th century, following the social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution, it was a major killer disease, with regular epidemics breaking out in Britain, Europe and the USA. This would be why it is now a problem amongst the Rohingya refugees. It was public health measures that saw its decline, first gradually, and then rapidly as living standards rose.
Then came vaccination - the DPT vaccine and its many variants - followed by a successful propaganda campaign claiming that it had been the vaccine had eradicated the disease. Conventional medicine did the same with other 'killer' diseases, including Measles, Influenza, Mumps and many others. Presumably this is why the British government is reported saying that the deployment of the medical team was "another proud moment for the NHS".
Yet the decline in diphtheria had nothing to do with vaccines, or conventional medicine.
In the 19th century, homeopathy was always more effective in dealing with disease epidemics. Jayney Goddard gave many examples of this in her lecture, "Homeopathy in Epidemics and Pandemics" presented to the inaugural 'Scientific Research in Homeopathy' conference. She covered many large scale epidemics around the world that all demonstrated that mortality rates were considerable higher with conventional medical treatment than with homeopathic treatment. She mentions, in particular, a diphtheria epidemic in the USA from 1862 to 1864.
"In the records of three years of Diphtheria in Broome County, NY from 1862 to 1864, there was a report of an 83.6% mortality rate among the allopaths and a 16.4% mortality rate among the homeopaths".
Goddard observed that diphtheria was difficult to treat as the disease rarely had the same symptoms, and that as a result practitioners needed to be able to quickly prescribe on an individual basis. She said that homeopathy was better suited to do so, which is why it was more successful in the 19th century, and this continues to be the case.
In comparison, conventional medicine has just one treatment - antibiotics - and growing resistance to these drugs means that they are rapidly coming to the end of their useful life. Conversely homeopathy has a full repertoire of remedies known to treat diphtheria more successfully, preventing death, and aiding quicker recovery.
With 27 deaths in Bangladesh already, it might have been appropriate for the British NHS to include homeopaths within the team. But conventional medicine does not want to compare the outcomes of different treatments for any disease. It has experienced a long history of unflattering comparisons and does not wish to submit itself to more! Instead it prefers to exist within the virtual monopoly it has now, even if that means that more patients are likely to die as a result.
The mainstream media is today reporting that a team of more than 40 doctors and nurses from the British NHS are travelling to Bangladesh to help tackle an outbreak following a request from the World Health Organization. Apparently they will spend six weeks there (BBC News).
Not much is heard about Diphtheria in the wealthier, more advanced nations of the world. It is a disease of poverty, poor diet, and squalor. In the 19th century, following the social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution, it was a major killer disease, with regular epidemics breaking out in Britain, Europe and the USA. This would be why it is now a problem amongst the Rohingya refugees. It was public health measures that saw its decline, first gradually, and then rapidly as living standards rose.
Then came vaccination - the DPT vaccine and its many variants - followed by a successful propaganda campaign claiming that it had been the vaccine had eradicated the disease. Conventional medicine did the same with other 'killer' diseases, including Measles, Influenza, Mumps and many others. Presumably this is why the British government is reported saying that the deployment of the medical team was "another proud moment for the NHS".
Yet the decline in diphtheria had nothing to do with vaccines, or conventional medicine.
In the 19th century, homeopathy was always more effective in dealing with disease epidemics. Jayney Goddard gave many examples of this in her lecture, "Homeopathy in Epidemics and Pandemics" presented to the inaugural 'Scientific Research in Homeopathy' conference. She covered many large scale epidemics around the world that all demonstrated that mortality rates were considerable higher with conventional medical treatment than with homeopathic treatment. She mentions, in particular, a diphtheria epidemic in the USA from 1862 to 1864.
"In the records of three years of Diphtheria in Broome County, NY from 1862 to 1864, there was a report of an 83.6% mortality rate among the allopaths and a 16.4% mortality rate among the homeopaths".
Goddard observed that diphtheria was difficult to treat as the disease rarely had the same symptoms, and that as a result practitioners needed to be able to quickly prescribe on an individual basis. She said that homeopathy was better suited to do so, which is why it was more successful in the 19th century, and this continues to be the case.
In comparison, conventional medicine has just one treatment - antibiotics - and growing resistance to these drugs means that they are rapidly coming to the end of their useful life. Conversely homeopathy has a full repertoire of remedies known to treat diphtheria more successfully, preventing death, and aiding quicker recovery.
With 27 deaths in Bangladesh already, it might have been appropriate for the British NHS to include homeopaths within the team. But conventional medicine does not want to compare the outcomes of different treatments for any disease. It has experienced a long history of unflattering comparisons and does not wish to submit itself to more! Instead it prefers to exist within the virtual monopoly it has now, even if that means that more patients are likely to die as a result.
