With 67% of the votes the alternative was imposed in favor of the inclusion of Complementary Medicine (MC) in public health, in the plebiscite that was held last May 17 in Switzerland. Citizen participation was 42% and the next step will occur when Parliament makes the appropriate modifications to the article dealing with the issue of health.
This is how Peter Schimdt, founding partner of Anthrosana in our country, has informed the Positive News, who has been satisfied with the results of the referendum in Switzerland, because, as he has argued, it is a pioneer event that will serve as an example for other states.
Schimdt has traveled to Bern to get to know the electoral process more closely and upon his return, he recalled the importance of the campaign's motto in defense of the MC: Complementary Medicine? Academic Medicine? Naturally together!
Below is the interview that N + maintained with the Anthrosana representative:
What has been the final result of the referendum in Switzerland?
PS: 67% have voted for the "Yes" and 33% for the "No". The vote in the 26 cantons (autonomous provinces) has also been unanimous, they have voted with one if all. On the other hand, the voting rules in Switzerland require the evaluation of two different results. One is the Volks-Mehr, vote of the people and the other is the St nde-Mehr, vote of the people in each of the 26 particular provinces. In order to win, one-half of the people and the same is necessary for the provinces. It is a very fair counting formula and designed for those places with low population density: the countryside with the lowest population achieves equal and balanced power like the densest regions.
In this sense, the double result represents a very clear and very satisfactory will. Now, the MC should be implicitly named in the Constitution.
N +: What changes will be made in the Constitution?
PS: Article 118a does not specify anything and should now be developed in detail as appendix to the template. The 5 therapeutic currents will be reintegrated into the basic health system: Anthroposophical Medicine, Classic Homeopathy, Classical Chinese Medicine, Phytotherapy and Neural Therapy.
N +: When can Swiss society choose the type of therapy it wants to receive?
PS: It is not easy to predict. It depends on the will and enemy powers of the MC. The Minister of Health Couchepin has said that for him, the vote of two thirds of the population in favor of the MC is not important. For the minister, it is not medicine but something similar to shamanism or voodoo.
Couchepin has the power to recognize the vote of the people and to integrate the 5 therapeutic currents of the MC into social security right now. However, he will not do it because of the statements he has made. But his term has only one year left and then, the situation can change radically. In addition, Parliament will press for respect for the vote and start working to give detailed consistency to Article 118a, with ministerial orders.
Parliamentary working groups have already been created in favor of providing solutions. Swiss citizens can choose their treatments but pay them out of their own pocket. The entry into force of ministerial orders may take a few years.
As Herbert Holliger, manager of Anthrosana Switzerland and brain of the process says: "With the vote we have the license to build the house, now we need the construction material, the workers and the common will to start."
N +: How will the process be towards the real inclusion of CM in public health?
PS: Now is the time of Parliament that has the obligation, according to article 118a, to execute the vote. But we must bear in mind that this process depends not only on the Federal Parliament but on the regional parliaments of the cantons. Each canton has its own speed.
But there is no going back. The decision of the people is final. Swiss democracy has a long tradition and a good tendency towards consensus. The Swiss are the masters of the clock and know that the mechanism can only work if all the elements move in a lasting and exact way and with the least resistance.
Henceforth, everything should be well calculated. The less chance, the better. This requires a maximum of knowledge and respect for the mechanism.
N +: With what impressions have you returned to Spain?
PS: I would like to describe my impressions in the form of a metaphorical story: in my vision appears the image of William Tell, the myth of Switzerland dramatized by Friedrich Schiller, repeated today with the result of 17M. The tyrant Gessler forces his people to greet his hat exposed on a high pole in the main square. Tell does not bow to the hat and defies the authority of the governor. Therefore, the tyrant imposes a punishment on Tell. Knowing Gessler of Tell's fame of being a very good crossbowman, he must shoot an apple placed on his son's head, located 50 steps away. Tell hit the first one but he already has in his soul the sentence made to the governor. The tyrant must die. It is the end of tyranny and the beginning of the freedom of the Swiss people, caused by the arrogance and false authority.
I have a founded hope that this civic victory for the MC will be transmitted to other countries in the world. It is a very important event. It is an event of the century, something symbolic in various fields of sociocultural life. It is a pioneering example.
N +: What is the current situation of the MC in Spain?
PS: Fatal. He is living under a sword of Damocles. The restrictions of the ministerial orders (not yet in force) threaten the field of homeopathy in their subsistence. The requirements for the registration of homeopathic medicines translate into a ban.
N +: Is it possible that in Spain an initiative similar to that of Switzerland is carried out?
PS: Yes, I think so. Our proposal is to unite the currents! You have to leave the fights about the only truth. We must unite with the common goal of freedom in the choice of medical / patient treatment and the recognition and integration of MC in the health system.
N +: And how will they do it?
PS: Creating a Forum for Integrative Medicine as a platform, composed of associations of doctors, therapists, independent patients, producers (laboratories) and distributors (pharmacies).
Know, listen, understand, attend and respect, wait until the fruits grow. It sure will work. It is not a matter of mentality but of an essential human trait. It should be a normal habit throughout the world.
Doing the lobby work is also very important. We must win politicians who understand the importance of the issue and are able to fight in Parliament with their recognition when the time comes. You have to develop patience.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
www.anthrosana.org.es
www.homeopatia-si.es
Author: Drafting / Adriana Pérez Pesce
Photo: Federal Parliament in Bern. Courtesy of Peter Schmidt Bubath.
