Minister of Health, homeopath

Minister of Health of the Czech Republic cautiously opposes the TCM and fails to fight homeopathy.

Even worse, he advocates it.

Let’s take a quick look into modern history of homeopathy in the Czech Republic:

• • In 1990, ČMHS – Czech-Moravian Homeopathic Society was established. In 1991 the Minister of Health declared homeopathy as a medical method (along with acupuncture), and the Czech-Moravian Homeopathic Society was duly admitted to the Czech Medical Society (ČLS JEP).
    But in 1996 ČMHS was excluded because, according to the ČLS statute, ČLS associates exclusively representatives of those medical disciplines that perform scientifically recognized procedures. New, Czech Medical Homeopathic Society was established. (One of the leaders is MUDr.Eleková, a symbol of the Czech antivax movement)
  • Since the Velvet revolution in 1989 homeopathy has been paid by health insurance companies. It was canceled in 1997 and homeopathic treatment now belongs to the standard that the patient has to pay for himself.
  • There were 6,500 homeopaths with medical education in the Czech Republic in 2005.
    Same year the Ministry of Health asked the ČLS JEP for an opinion on homeopathy. The Bureau of ČLS JEP decided that prof. Blahoš writes a disapproving opinion that the Bureau considers homeopathic diagnostic and therapeutic methods to be non-scientific, non-evidence-based.
  • On July 27, 2011, the Regional Court in Brno confirmed a 10 month suspended sentence for the doctor Jana Šteclová for treating the patient for a long time only with homeopathics. Between 1999 and 2006 Šteclová treated her patient for the thyroid disease only by homeopathics and did not control changes in her condition. According to the court’s finding, the condition of the patient worsened so much that she died in her subsequent hospitalization.
  • Czech Skeptics’ Club Sisyfos repeatedly organizes Happening 10:23, during which Sisyfos members publicly “overdosed” themselves by allegedly very strong homeopathic medicines, with no real harm.

Despite all this the current Minister of Health said:
“My attitude to homeopathy is positive. I think it’s a really good alternative to classic medicines. I think they really should be a part of medicine. I think it would be a good idea for homeopathy to be in the hands of a doctor or other health care professional who is educated.”

“As far as teaching is concerned, I can not fully evaluate the question of whether this may be part of teaching at pharmaceutical or medical faculties, or it would be a special course. But I really think homeopathy, even if it is a little different discipline than standard medicine and pharmacotherapy, should be in the hands of a doctor or general practitioner because it should not be prescribed and applied by everyone.”

He knows what he was talking about – he has a positive experience with homeopathy because he has “cured” himself the cold!

What can I say…?

Sources:
wikipedia
Zdravotnický deník
Homeopatické přípravky