So why haven’t we seen the changes we’ve been campaigning for?

A number of issues have so far prevented the public from witnessing changes in harmful conventional health policies. Some of those issues are as follows:

Vested interests in conventional healthcare. Such is the size and power of the conventional medical system that any campaigning body pressing for change is invariably dwarfed by the corporate world and/or government departments with vast resources at their disposal. With literally millions of pounds and dollars resting on the outcome of any contested health issue, even the most well-informed minority voice can quickly become engulfed by these ‘superior’ forces.

Conflicts of interests in alternative healthcare. A campaign highlighting errant conventional practice can be weakened due to conflicts of interest within the campaigning party. For instance, many of the branches of alternative healthcare compete with one another on ideologies and products (often unproven). This produces dissention and prevents a united and truly influential force coming together to fight the issues. Regulated and/or unregulated practitioners of innumerable therapies now offer 1001 remedies for man’s ailments, ranging from the genuinely efficacious to out-and-out charlatanism. Whilst these groups may well be earnest in their desire to expose conventional medical error, the vast array of differing knowledge claims on offer, plus differences in philosophy and practice, serve only to weaken the intellectual integrity of the campaign. Important debates generate more heat than light. A confused general public becomes more confused, and dangerous conventional practices proliferate unimpeded.

A campaign can be openly or subliminally ‘product-driven’. Whilst the particular campaign may well be deserving of wider attention, should support for that campaign be coupled with unsolicited invitations to buy into certain belief systems or health products? In many instances, these products are no more proven in efficacy than the harmful conventional treatments the campaign is striving to expose.

Uncoordinated means of registering protest. The lack of a centralised campaigning body able to define the key issues, co-ordinate and then accurately target effective mass protest, has largely resulted in scattered, indiscriminate ‘pot-shot’ campaigns inflicting only superficial damage. Imagine the consequences of a precisely targeted and coordinated protest numbering at least a million informed and voting constituents. Protests of this nature are never ignored.

 

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