How the WHO is endangering lives by legitimising quackery

Homeopathy, as any decent scientist will tell you, does not work. Its inventor, Samuel Hahnemann, also claimed that drinking coffee would cure any and all disease, perhaps a more sensible claim than that endlessly diluting a chemical actually makes it stronger. To quote the Wikipedia page for homeopathy, “[a]ll relevant scientific knowledge about physics, chemistry, biochemistry and biology contradicts” this ludicrous “theory”.

The last place you would expect this to be promoted is an organisation dedicated to improving the health of those in need. Imagine my shock, therefore, when in August of this year the World Health Organisation asked users on the Platform Formerly Known as Twitter if they had used it. Placing it alongside other patent nonsense like acupuncture (sticking needles in certain points of the body) and unani medicine (based on the discredited 4 humours theory), it goes on to claim that it is rooted in “Indigenous knowledges & natural resources”. Ignoring the fact that this is plainly untrue for homeopathy (unless Germans are now considered Indigenous), the fact that it is natural does not make it effective, or even safe. Deadly nightshade is more naturally occurring than paracetamol, but I know which one I’d take if I had a headache.

The emphasis on indigenous, though, shows a more sinister attitude, one which is present in a lot of NGOs. It is true that what we would now call “alternative medicine” was used by native inhabitants across the globe. But, they did so because they thought it would cure the disease, not out of an innate respect for the remedy. When the Celts used juniper berries to treat epilepsy, they did this with belief that it worked; if they had known an actually effective treatment, they would have used that instead. By invoking indigenous people, the WHO are appropriating the deaths and suffering of those who had no alternative. Glamourising the agonising deaths of babies who were given ineffective treatments due to a lack of modern treatments is not a cause behind which any self-respecting NGO should rally.

Furthermore, this tweet betrays the attitude of many who praise indigenous treatments and methods purely for the provenance that these people should continue to suffer as those promoting them get proper, working medicine. I don’t know for sure, but I’m willing to bet that no member of the WHO governing body has ever used any of the alternative medicines they are promoting. They’re following in the footsteps of Chairman Mao; while he rewrote history to invent Traditional Chinese Medicine, thereby vastly increasing the rate of deaths and suffering from entirely preventable diseases, he used the most cutting-edge medical methods available to him. This attitude is not limited to medicine. Even our King has said some outlandish things regarding India’s “green revolution”, which allowed hundreds more to be fed and lifted millions out of poverty. Western people romanticising ineffective and potentially deadly practices never have to face the consequences of using them – they’re perfectly happy to let those crying out for the same modern, effective methods to suffer.

Needless to say, the UK should not be wasting taxpayer money on promoting this nonsense. The British government should press WHO for answers, and ensure that never again does it endanger the lives of those it was set up to protect by hiding behind a smokescreen of tradition and indigeneity.

Alex Elliott (The Secretary, Brasenose College) is a second year undergraduate reading PPE.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons, under licence.