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+--- Thread: WHO endorses traditional chinese medicine: Expect deaths to rise (/thread-6222.html)
WHO endorses traditional chinese medicine: Expect deaths to rise - C C - Oct 4, 2018
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2018/10/01/who-endorses-tcm-expect-deaths-to-rise/#560806ab6418
EXCERPT: . . . A few days ago, a news story in the journal Nature reported that the World Health Organization, which is supposed to be devoted to improving the health and medical care of people around the globe, will for the first time endorse a belief system called "traditional Chinese medicine." I'm labeling TCM a belief system because that's what it is–but the WHO will be endorsing it as a set of medical practices.
[...] Actually, it's much worse than this. Here's what TCM really looks like: the horrific slaughter of the last remaining rhinoceroses in Africa in order to hack off their horns, which are sold to become part of elixirs that some people mistakenly think confer strength, virility, or other health benefits. Last year, National Geographic ran a heart-wrenching photo essay showing some of the awful results of rhinoceros poaching in Africa; take a look at these photos here.
TCM also looks like this: black bears kept in grotesquely cruel "farms" with a permanent tube inserted into their abdomens so that their bile can be harvested. Despite a growing movement to end this inhumane practice (see this NY Times story), it persists today, with thousands of bears kept in cages so small they can barely move. No one can view photos such as these and say that TCM is a good thing.
And TCM is behind the slaughter of the last remaining wild tigers, which are virtually extinct now in Asia, so that men can foolishly eat their bones, claws, and genitals in the mistaken belief that tiger parts will make them virile. Here too, National Geographic has details and photographs that are almost too painful to look at.
And don't get me started on pangolins...
MORE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2018/10/01/who-endorses-tcm-expect-deaths-to-rise/#560806ab6418
RE: WHO endorses traditional chinese medicine: Expect deaths to rise - RainbowUnicorn - Oct 4, 2018
rhino horn ?
RE: WHO endorses traditional chinese medicine: Expect deaths to rise - Syne - Oct 4, 2018
So they're willing to pander to China for the potential donations that make up 76% of its budget?
The combined 2012–2013 budget has proposed a total expenditure of $3,959 million, of which $944 million (24%) will come from assessed contributions. This represented a significant fall in outlay compared to the previous 2009–2010 budget, adjusting to take account of previous underspends. Assessed contributions were kept the same. Voluntary contributions will account for $3,015 million (76%), of which $800 million is regarded as highly or moderately flexible funding, with the remainder tied to particular programmes or objectives.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization#Financing_and_partnerships