November 30, 2006

Are you too fat or too short, have you any incurable diseases like diabetes, hepatitis and associated complications? Not to worry because though western science, with all the resources at its disposal has not been able to find a cure for these diseases, a few miracle workers in our country are claiming day in and day out that they have.

In the past, these claims were limited to the pages of certain not too well-known tabloids and newspapers with limited circulation. But now these tall claims with their mentors expressing their advantages eloquently, have entered our drawingrooms through the ever-expanding electronic media in the country.

This time their effect is lethal because as far as newspapers are concerned only those with the ability to read, and perhaps some basic knowledge to differentiate between truth and myth, are exposed to this kind of information. However, the utterly illiterate sit wide eyed and have no protection from these quacks, who are given ample airtime on the idiot box to bombard the naïve audience with persuasive arguments to buy their miracle medicines, belts and what not to save themselves from various diseases or become more acceptable in society.

The claims made by these vendors of miracle cures and equipment are creating emotional problems, especially for young girls, driving them to depression and other psychosomatic problems. This is because without any substantial evidence these advertisements claim that fat or short girls are despised by society and the doors to marriage and employment are closed on them.

Excited young females are shown lamenting their past when they missed out on so many things because they were too short, fat or dark and how the use of some equipment or herbs changed all that for them and how they became acceptable to men and employers, who according to these stories are more interested in the physical appearance of their female employees than their academic qualifications.

Do the propagators of these obviously false stories understand the hell young girls with similar problems must be going through when they sit with their families watching these commercials, and how in lesser educated families they must be taunted afterwards for being a burden on the household due to their physical appearances? What kind of values are we instilling in society just so that we can make a fast buck and why has no one so far done anything to stop this onslaught on young girls in this remorseless manner?

There are two aspects to this problem. False and misleading propagation of cures and equipment, which have not been tested by the health authorities to ascertain their claim and the derogatory language being used for young girls who are not that attractive and who would face a lot of problems because of the barrage of insults leveled against them. No women’s right association has thus so far objected to this or demanded their withdrawal which is very surprising given the pro active atmosphere in the country for protection of women against all kinds of discrimination and abuse.

The other and more serious aspect is peddling of drugs and equipment which have not been put through scientific trials and testing. Here the Ministry of Health should intervene as the law in this case has a loophole because while clinically proven pharmaceuticals cannot be advertised, the moment the word herbal attaches itself to a medicine, then it can be advertised, propagated and wild claims made about it and no one can do anything about it. This law needs immediate revamping to stop the damage being done by those who use this loophole to their advantage. Surely there must be other ways to stop this deviousness and save the growing number of people from falling prey to this unscrupulous propaganda.

Not long ago there was a gentleman in Hyderabad who claimed that his prayers on a spoon of sugar could cure diabetes. People stood in line for days to reach this person who fed them a spoon of sugar and declared they were from that day cured of this deadly disease, and were advised to buy sweets from local sweet merchants to consume as they wished. Many went into coma and God knows how many were dispatched to the next world. This did not provoke any response from the authorities who are again only silent spectators to the present campaign to promote unsubstantiated cures.

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