Placebo ?

AIDS groups in Africa are upset that the President of Gambia is advocating a purported “miracle treatment” for HIV and AIDS. Today’s report in Breitbart.com states that the cure is based on medicinal plants and recitations of a verse in the Koran.

The African Community Platform, which is an umbrella group for several AIDS organizations in Africa alleges that the miracle cure has no scientific basis and that it violates patients’ rights. It has called on the Gambian President to allow international experts to study the claim and put an end to the confusion surrounding it.

OK…..FuelMix has a few thoughts on this:

First, “experts” come and experts go. Every time FuelMix hears that word, he glazes over slightly. Why? Simply put, “experts” can’t – and won’t – agree. FuelMix has been in the international professional field long enough to be well aware of the massively inflated egos that drive our cherished “experts”.

Did FuelMix mention that “experts” can also be bought, threatened, cajoled, harassed and blackmailed in order to support an officially desired conclusion?

Second, plant medicine has a history going back thousands of years. One only has to think of Ayurveda, Aromatherapy, Naturopathy, Homeopathy and, more recently, Bach Flower remedies.

Not only are natural remedies gaining mainstream acceptance in the West, but, the ugly side of such plant-based medicine, is the direct threat they pose to the pharmaceutical companies and their saturation pill-pushing marketing. It’s no secret that properly administered plant based medicines have no side-effects. Prescription pharmaceuticals and side-effects are usually par for the course.

Further, pharmaceutical manufacturers are raking in billions on HIV and AIDS fighting drugs. It’s well documented that some companies are actively suppressing the dissemination of plant medicine knowledge, or worse, conspiring or abetting the destruction of forest areas inhabited for generations by indigenous tribes with intimate knowledge of plant medicine. Environmental degradation takes place for both profit and censorship.

Third, faith-based “miracle cures” have long been a characteristic in the West too. What about the pilgrimages to Lourdes to bathe in and drink from the water? What about getting sprinkled with Holy Water? What about asking for prayers when a person is ill? What about petitioning certain saints?

Is a recitation of a verse from the Koran in conjunction with plant medicine so absurd as to be greeted with alarm? Hardly.

Given the near pandemic status of AIDS, FuelMix is all in favour of a scientific study of the Gambian President’s claims. But the fact remains that a patient’s mind and will are just as strong – and sometimes stronger – than scientific prognoses, blind studies, and sweeping accusations that such natural, faith based treatment violates patients’ rights.

What really violates a patient’s rights is the deprivation of the freedom to think and the freedom to choose.

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