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Homeoprophylaxis - Homeopathic Immunisation for Epidemic Diseases

Part C: The Politics of Homeopathic Immunisation
(This is the third, and final, part of an article regarding Homeoprophylaxis - the use of homeopathic immunisation to protect against disease symptoms. Pronounced, 'ho-me-oh-prof-il-ax-is', it is a long name and quite a mouthful! For the purpose of this article, it will be shortened to HP. It is important to note that while it is possible to immunise homeopathically, there is no such thing as a homeopathic vaccine or a process known as homeopathic vaccination. Both terms are inaccurate when referring to HP.)
Part A of this article looked at two recent large-scale studies in which Homeoprophylaxis (HP) provided protection against Meningococcal disease.
Part B examined other instances in which HP protected "at risk" populations from the effects of epidemic diseases. It also discussed recent Ph.D research showing HP to be safe, effective, and a healthier option for immunisation than vaccination.
Part C will examine some of the barriers that stop HP from being a recognised option for immunisation given the fact that it has a 200 year history of success in this area.
Muddied Waters
People need accurate information when making immunisation choices for their families or themselves. For whatever reason, this has not happened with HP. Information distributed by Government to the public and healthcare professionals about HP has often been incorrect. The following examples demonstrate this:
Example 1: Government literature frequently states there is no evidence that HP provides immunity. Either Government has not had access to the available studies or has chosen to ignore them. Results from the Brazilian studies of Part A of this article, for example, confirm what homeopathic doctors in Brazil have said for decades - homeopathic Meningococcinum does protect against Meningococcal disease. These results have been sent to our Government. At the very least, they deserve to be followed up and investigated. Part B of this article also listed other studies and accounts from both medical and professional homeopaths over the last 200 years on the efficacy of HP during epidemics such as mumps, typhoid, typhus, diphtheria, whooping cough, and influenza.
Example 2: Government literature and media statements have claimed that the Executive Director of the Australian Natural Therapies Association (ANTA) has said that no properly qualified natural therapist would recommend homeopathic immunisation as an alternative to conventional immunisation.
This statement has been reported widely since 1990 and is frequently used by detractors of HP. It is both untrue and incorrect. The Executive Director of ANTA at the time, denied ever making such a statement and ANTA subsequently released a statement that said:

Immunity could be stimulated naturally by good nutrition, natural herbal remedies, homeopathic remedies, and correct lifestyle changes, or, artificially by vaccines

Natural therapists were philosophically bound to stimulate natural immunity as a first choice.

It was only appropriate to stimulate artificial immunity by vaccines when natural immunity had been exhausted.

ANTA wished to promote the fact that options other than vaccines were available for stimulating immunity.

Vaccination should not be compulsory and parents should have freedom of choice. Unfortunately, this actual position of ANTA is not reported while the earlier untrue statement is quoted and promoted.

The Stifling of Debate and Research
Misinformation about HP is a problem but of greater concern is the pressure applied to individuals or groups, seemingly to discourage the use of HP.
Example 1: The British Story.
Frequently, quotes from the Faculty of Homeopathy, London, are used in Australia to convey the impression that British medical homeopaths do not accept HP as an alternative to vaccination, and therefore, neither should we.
Some British homeopathic doctors have only adopted this anti-HP and pro-vaccination stance in recent times. It is a position at odds with the views of their Faculty predecessors, many of whom used HP extensively in epidemics and wrote of its benefits. Interestingly, the Faculty's change in attitude coincided with threats by the UK health authorities to block access to some groups of homeopathic remedies unless the Faculty issued a statement supporting vaccination.
What most people, and perhaps our own government, do not realise is that only a small percentage of British homeopaths belong to this Faculty. The great majority belong to other associations that do not support or agree with the Faculty position.
Example 2: The Australian Story.
At the same time, a similar story was played out in Australia. In 1994, the Australian Government issued a press release welcoming an announcement that the Australian Medical Faculty of Homeopathy (AMFoH) did not support homeopathic immunisation over conventional vaccines. What was not said in this press release was that prior to AMFoH's announcement, serious threats had been made against doctors who used HP.
Newspapers carried reports of doctors being warned about "child vaccines" and threats of them being sued if they used homeopathic preparations. At the time, the Australian Medical Association's President, Dr Brendan Nelson, said that he knew some doctors were prescribing HP and that if they came to his attention he would, "refer them to medical boards." In 1995 he further said, "We are gunning for people who behave in this way." With the threat of de-registration hanging over their heads, is it any wonder that Australian homeopathic doctors no longer speak in favour of HP? A great shame, as we are all the poorer for it.
Example 3: The Golden Story.
Dr Isaac Golden (PhD), whose recent research on HP was discussed in Part B of this article, has also had his fair share of difficulties. Between the years of 1989-95, he weathered: complaints lodged anonymously by some medical practitioners; visits by government officials suggesting he had committed criminal offences; and, four investigations by Health Departments of two states of Australia. On each occasion, it was concluded that he had no case to answer.
Most recently, Golden has been told he would receive a $27,000.00 fine in each instance if he supplied HP remedies to people living outside his home state of Victoria. This threat significantly reduced the data Golden was able to analyse in his HP study, reported in Part B of this article. It is truly sad when some of those who openly criticise Homeopathy for not having enough research, then actively work to restrict research opportunities. Once again, we are all the poorer for it.
Vested Interests
So why do we have the spread of misinformation and such opposition to HP? If it can point to records of effectiveness in some of the world's worst epidemic diseases over the last 200 years, why isn't it being used? In comparison to conventional vaccines, it is inexpensive, does no harm, and may improve health. Surely, it must be worthy of further investigation. Why does this not happen?
To understand the situation a little better one has to look at who has vested interests and what they stand to lose. Vaccines are the only form of medicine that each person on the planet will be encouraged to have multiple times throughout their life - from birth to the grave.
Vaccines are patentable products. They are big business for drug companies that produce them, the countries in which they are produced, and those involved in their distribution and administration. Vaccines generate billions upon billions of dollars each year and this river of gold flows from the factories to the end prescriber. When business becomes this big, what is ultimately the best for people's health may take second place.
In comparison, HP is of no interest to drug companies. As explained earlier HP remedies are prepared from naturally occurring substances and so cannot be patented or monopolised. Their production and distribution cannot be controlled by companies to maximise profits. They are also inexpensive - HP remedies provided in bulk to large populations would cost cents per person to produce rather than dollars.
It is easy to see that, unlike vaccines, little money can be made from the manufacture and promotion of HP remedies. The drug industry has no incentive to fund research into HP and certainly does not want to promote its use. In fact, if HP was found by all to be a serious contender in the immunisation stakes, the vaccine industry and those associated with it would lose a lot of money.
More About Research
Two hundred years of clinical usage and field trials have shown HP to be effective in preventing epidemic diseases.¹ While earlier records cannot be analysed by modern research methodology, they do reveal that HP safely and effectively prevented epidemic diseases before the dominance of the vaccine industry.
Recent research on HP does exist but has been restricted by lack of funding. Large multinational companies who hold patents on the medicines they are developing fund most pharmaceutical research. Patented drugs, if successful, lead to large profits that underpin further studies. Homeopathic medicines, on the other hand, are inexpensively prepared from naturally occurring substances. They cannot be patented or sold at a premium to provide similar funding for homeopathic research.
As a safe system of medicine with records of efficacy, one would think that Homeopathy was an ideal candidate for government funding - not so. The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) received $427 million in the 2004-2005 budget but not one dollar was allocated for homeopathic research. It is time to address this oversight and actively fund research opportunities in the future.
At other times, government departments have even hindered research opportunities. It has already been discussed how threats of fines restricted the Golden research. In another instance, opposition by the NSW Department of Health led to the NSW Department of Education refusing to distribute information to parents about participation in the Swinburne University research. Clearly, it is time for Homeopaths and the public to call on government to correct such perceived imbalances and biases.
While critics will always say, "Further studies need to be done," thankfully research on HP does exist and is highly positive. All documented studies show it to be effective and safe - much safer than the alternative of vaccines. None have shown it to be harmful. This being the case, HP should be made available immediately on humanitarian grounds to those too unwell or impoverished for conventional vaccines, at the very least. Such a compassionate and logical act would also generate a large pool of data for future research.
Making the Choice
There are three options for improving the immunity of ourselves and our children. They are:

Conventional vaccination

Strengthening natural immunity through healthy lifestyle and diet

Homeoprophylaxis (HP)

This article (parts A, B & C) has tried to increase awareness of the HP option. For those who would like to read further, the Australian Homeopathic Association, the largest association representing Homeopaths in this country, has written a Position Statement on Homeoprophylaxis that provides further information.
For pro-vaccination material, the Australian Government has produced extensive and useful information at its Immunise Australia site. You will also find some of the misinformation discussed earlier.
For those who wonder why seemingly loving parents would choose to avoid vaccines for their children, you can read their reasons in the document, "Ten Reasons Why Parents Question Vaccination" at the Australian Vaccination Network site.
The Way Forward
After reading this article, what can you do? There are a number of things. Consider one or all of the following:

Research the immunisation issue further so you can be well informed about your immunisation options. The information provided in the above links should be just a beginning. Some of it may be confronting.

Exercise your right to choice because contrary to common belief, you do still have a choice about immunisation in this country.

Bring your findings to the attention of your Local Member of Parliament. If you were not aware of certain things, in all probability he or she will not be either.

Lobby Government to release funding for research into Homeoprophylaxis to the satisfaction of all. Those unfamiliar with HP will want to confirm that it is effective. Those who are already know that it is would welcome further research into areas such as potency and length of immunity issues.

Petition Government to control the dominance of drug companies and associated industries so that our health care system serves the interests of people rather than the greed of large corporations.

Finally, please visit the Do No Harm Initiative Inc., a non-profit organization established to inform governments, communities, and individuals about HP and related issues. Your support would be most welcome.

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