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Indians are not expected to question their Guru. Since student days medical and para-medicals revere the World Health Organization (WHO) as the ultimate Guru concerning health issues. In Western universities, students are expected to challenge their Gurus and engage their teachers in debate. In Asian traditions, the teacher is Guru, the all knowing God. Challenging the Guru is blasphemy.
This attitude is an extension of our patriarchal and authoritarian societies. The head of the family is always right and all are expected to conform. Outside the cozy comfort of the family people seek an authority figure or Guru to make important decisions them. Most often this emotional vacuum is filled by the Government, the "Sarkar." or institutions like the WHO in matters of health.
While Indians enjoy a democracy and in principle have individual rights and autonomy, their surrender to a Guru, be it the government or the WHO, unconditionally, can have serious consequences if these institutions turn into Goliaths. Since my college days, I have retained a bit of irreverence essential for critical thinking, which makes me challenge the ultimate health Guru.
But why challenge, one may ask? Wasn't Goliath all powerful? Shouldn't being on his side protect us from all adversities? Reinterpretation of the tale of Goliath brings out many chinks in his armour. An aging Guru, whom we worship but never challenge, can be a handicap.
In the Biblical legend, Goliath is gigantic with full armour, epitomizing strength backed by unlimited wealth. David, on the other hand is a small lowly shepherd boy carrying a stick and a sling who dared to take on the challenge of fighting the mighty Goliath. In the ensuing contest to the amazement of all, David with his nimbleness, flexibility and adaptability brings down the clumsy, groping, Goliath by a sharp stone thrown from his sling.
It is common belief that Goliath, with his size and heavy armour, had the advantage in this unequal combat and David's victory over Goliath was a fluke against all odds. Counterview to this is offered by Malcolm Gladwell based on published research. Scientific and theological investigations have unearthed many fascinating facts around the clash between David and Goliath.
A peer reviewed paper by Dierdee Donnelly and Patrick Morrison, titled, "Hereditary Gigantism" -- the Biblical Goliath and his brothers, published in Ulster Medical Journal in 2014, concludes that Goliath suffered from acromegaly caused by a tumour of the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. This condition increases the secretion of the growth hormone which leads to gigantism.
The tumour also presses on the optic nerve which carries visual images from the eyes to the brain and can lead to severe nearsightedness. Goliath is blind is evident in the biblical story as he has to be led by hand to the contest. The giant Goliath is also bogged down by his cumbersome armour rendering his movements clumsy and slow. David while far diminutive in size has the advantage of speed and flexibility. Using this to his advantage he knocked down Goliath with an accurate throw from his sling.
Lessons from this legend are applicable to the current state of the WHO and their health strategists. Remarkable advances in medical technology have transformed medicine to "gigantic" or "acromegalous" heights like a modern Goliath. The accompanying costs and challenges have made the diminutive Davids in independent private practice give way to big corporate hospitals transforming medicine from a calling to big business. The transformed WHO in its new avatar as a blind Goliath is led by the hand by the poster boys of pharmaceutical industry!
The sheer size and gigantic visibility of the WHO-Pharma coalition standing tall as a present day Goliath has stirred unrealistic expectations among populations particularly the elite and middle classes that every ill has a pill and every infection has a jab, the more the better. No doubt medical advances have led to remarkable improvements in health of people. But like in the case of the legendary Goliath the vision and flexibility have diminished.
The pandemic has exposed the chinks in the armour of this Goliath. Faced with a nimble, virus it groped and lunged clumsily to vanquish the enemy, tiny both in size and impact. The awkward myopic movements of this giant trampled upon lives and livelihoods across the globe, destroying businesses and fracturing society trying to check an infection which has a survival rate of 99.9%.
The giant failed to adapt itself to accumulating evidence. It kept on persisting with the blanket restrictive measures for all when data clearly indicated that the novel virus was lethal mostly in the elderly with comorbidities.
The blind Goliaths lost their focus. Instead of focused protection of the non-immune, mass vaccination campaigns are being rolled out even in populations where over 80% have acquired natural immunity. The superiority of naturally acquired immunity (13 to 27 times more robust than vaccine induced immunity) was known since ages and confirmed in the pandemic as well.
A wise Guru should encourage critical thinking instead of censoring opposing views. Time to challenge the Guru who has turned into a blind Goliath
This fundamental fact is being downplayed by the modern Goliaths like the WHO and the CDC in the blind unholy haste to push vaccines to all whether immune or not, including, horror of horrors, children with immunity – innate as well as naturally acquired. A Nelson's eye is being turned to population level surges even after high vaccination coverage and boosters in countries like Israel, Singapore, South Korea and others.
The blind, clumsy and aging Goliath has not lost the hunger for power. A proposed pandemic treaty will give immense arbitrary powers to WHO which can declare a "pandemic" on whim and fancy, endangering the autonomy of world governments.
Regional factors drive any pandemic beyond human interventions. One size fit all treaty defies all epidemiological principles. Management of pandemics should be done by local experts, the Davids, who have insight of the epidemiological nuances of the region. Blanket treaties is not fair to the WHO or to countries facing pandemics differently in different regions.
A wise Guru should encourage debate and critical thinking instead of censoring opposing views. Time to come of age and challenge the Guru who has turned into a blind Goliath! Towards this end a group of epidemiologists, data scientists, doctors with support of activists, lawyers and civil society has launched the Universal Health Organization (UHO). The aim of this organization is to engage the WHO and other modern Goliaths to collaborate and not confront or censor, not to knock down the giant but knock down unscientific messages and practices which can harm humanity.
Like David this diminutive organization will challenge the blind Goliaths to scientific debates in place of physical combat, whenever they stray from the path of science and integrity to promote, "transparency, empowerment and accountability." The UHO website is active and accessible here.
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*Post Doctoral in Epidemiology, presently Professor at Dr DY Patil Medical College, Pune; formerly field epidemiologist for 20 years in the Indian Armed Forces and headed the Mobile Epidemic Investigation Team at the Armed Forces Medical College from 2000 to 2004
The blind, clumsy and aging Goliath has not lost the hunger for power. A proposed pandemic treaty will give immense arbitrary powers to WHO which can declare a "pandemic" on whim and fancy, endangering the autonomy of world governments.
Regional factors drive any pandemic beyond human interventions. One size fit all treaty defies all epidemiological principles. Management of pandemics should be done by local experts, the Davids, who have insight of the epidemiological nuances of the region. Blanket treaties is not fair to the WHO or to countries facing pandemics differently in different regions.
A wise Guru should encourage debate and critical thinking instead of censoring opposing views. Time to come of age and challenge the Guru who has turned into a blind Goliath! Towards this end a group of epidemiologists, data scientists, doctors with support of activists, lawyers and civil society has launched the Universal Health Organization (UHO). The aim of this organization is to engage the WHO and other modern Goliaths to collaborate and not confront or censor, not to knock down the giant but knock down unscientific messages and practices which can harm humanity.
Like David this diminutive organization will challenge the blind Goliaths to scientific debates in place of physical combat, whenever they stray from the path of science and integrity to promote, "transparency, empowerment and accountability." The UHO website is active and accessible here.
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*Post Doctoral in Epidemiology, presently Professor at Dr DY Patil Medical College, Pune; formerly field epidemiologist for 20 years in the Indian Armed Forces and headed the Mobile Epidemic Investigation Team at the Armed Forces Medical College from 2000 to 2004
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