In mid-April, the Finnish health and social affairs ministry unveiled a proposal that only “healthcare professionals” should be allowed to treat mentally ill and disabled patients. The report went on to state that alternative therapies should only be offered under a doctor’s care to cancer, diabetic, pregnant women, and mental health patients. The Finnish health and social services minister, Paula Risikko, was quoted as saying the Finnish government wanted “to guarantee patient safety.” (Where have we heard that before?)
What about a grandmother’s herbal tea to ease a pregnant woman’s sleep? Massage therapy for a cancer patient? Recommendations from an organic chef for dietary choices to a patient with diabetes? Do those qualify as offering alternative therapies to cancer, diabetic, pregnant women, and to mental health patients?
Dr. Rob Verkerk, science director for Alliance for Natural Health, believes that your ability to choose natural health products—and even therapeutic foods—is severely threatened, through a global effort involving world governments and transnational corporations.
The Alliance for Natural Health has analyzed regulations in the European Union, Canada, New Zealand, and the US, and points out where restrictions against the use of alternative therapies and even dietary supplements are most imminent.
The treatment of chronic disease—diabetes and heart disease in particular—consumes 78% of US healthcare dollars. The conventional Western medical model of prescriptions and procedures is ill-suited to effectively address chronic disease. Alternative and integrative therapies can treat them successfully, and with a much smaller price tag.
We cannot afford to be complacent about vested interests trying to restrict our access to whichever form of healthcare we choose. The threat of international harmonization of supplement laws through instruments like the Codex Alimentarius Commission or treaties involving Mexico, the US, and Canada cannot be ignored by educated consumers who value health freedom.