21st Century Demons & Public Health in Sri Lanka. Plenary presentation made at the Annual Sessions of the College of Community Physicians Sri Lanka, in Colombo, 24 Sep 2013.
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21st Century Demons & Public Health in Sri Lanka by Nalaka Gunawardene, 24 sep 2013
1. 21st Century Demons &
Universal Health Access
in Sri Lanka
By Nalaka Gunawardene
Science Writer, Blogger and
Columnist (Ravaya, Ceylon Today)
nalakagunawardene.com
College of Community Physicians Sri Lanka
Annual Sessions: Colombo, 24 Sep 2013
2. My Approach: engaged layman
Covered science, technology
& environment & public
health in media for 25 yrs
‘Bridging’ experts & publics
Asking many questions…
Seeking answers & clarity:
Curious, eager, open-minded
As sceptical enquirer
No political agenda
3. Public Health & Public Perceptions
Dosthara Wisthara: A
Doctor’s Experiences (2002)
By Dr Ariyasena U Gamage
(MBBS, MD), former senior
lecturer in community
medicine, Univ of Peradeniya
Stories & impressions from 25
yrs in SL public health service
Empathetic insights on
sociology, psychology and
anthropology of health
4. Public Health & Public Perceptions
Most patients coming to public
hospitals have already tried
non-medical (i.e. belief-based)
attempts at healing
Some of these do no harm
(except delay); a few even
reassure patients & families
Others do mislead, mistreat
and complicate ailments
YET SUCH PRACTICES ARE:
Deeply embedded in culture
Direct dismissals won’t work
5. Confrontational approach:
Favoured by our Chief Myth-Buster
Kerala-born science teacher
came to live in Ceylon in 1950s
1959 on: Took to investigating
‘supernatural’ phenomena &
‘paranormal’ practices.
Found adequate physical or
psychological explanations for
almost all ‘mysteries’
1960: Founded Ceylon
Rationalist Association, which
continues his work todate
Dr Abraham T Kovoor
(1898 - 1978)
6. Kovoor’s way:
Scientific Method, all the way…
No absolute truths
No dogmas
No SACRED COWS!
But 50 yrs later,
debate still rages on:
How best to relate to
Indigenous knowledge
What about those
exploiting IK as a cover?
8. Kovoor’s approach: investigate, analyse, expose &
debunk myths/frauds
Amplify findings through supportive media
Can this work TODAY, e.g. about ‘faith healing’?
LK Society less tolerant (fraudsters now engage thugs!)
LK Media less critical (airwaves crowded with black magic!)
9. Can Rationalists Awaken
the Sleep-walking Lankan Nation?
Op-Ed essay by Nalaka Gunawardene
Groundviews.org, 12 Jan 2013
http://tiny.cc/Rat21
L to R: Abraham T Kovoor, Carlo Fonseka, Dharmapala Senaratne
10. Mass media as 21st Century
Pied Pipers!
TV matters most in LK
Pipers’ Tunes may be fully
sponsored…
Freedom to do so can’t be
blocked in open societies
with market economy
Instead, we can & must
strengthen media literacy
Timeless advice: Caveat
emptor (Buyer beware!)
11. ET: The Extra-Terrestrial
(Steven Spielberg, 1982)
Lovely tale of a benign
alien being making friends
with Earth kids
ET had magical healing
powers in his finger-tip
No such powers found in
humans, despite various
claims of faith healers!
We can suspend disbelief
for imagined stories, NOT
in real life!
12. Have Lankans
Suspended Disbelief -- Permanently?
“Is ‘suspended disbelief’
becoming a default setting for
many Lankans? Despite high
levels literacy and schooling, is
our society more gullible and
paranoid now than a generation
ago? If so, why?”
I asked this in my Sunday column
in Ceylon Today, 22 Sep 2013
Full text: http://tiny.cc/SusDB
13. Old Demons & New Demons:
Something for everyone?
As literacy & education spread, less
people accept/peddle traditional LK
demons (Maha Sona, Mohinee, Riri
Yaka, et al.)
21st Century Demons have emerged:
Urban myths & paranoia
Various conspiracy theories
Growing list of ‘Public Enemies’ said to
be “plotting against fragile Lanka &
her people”
“Foreign hands” at work???
14. Health-linked phobias/myths
abound!
Mobile phones (instruments &
transmission towers): harmful?
Mass panic about Arsenic in rice
Phobias about all things
‘chemical’ or ‘synthetic’
So-called ‘contraceptive
conspiracies’ gaining ground
Etc, etc.
15. New Demons often dressed in
clothes of Pseudo-Science…
Superficially projected as ‘technical’
BUT without the rigour & self-
correction inherent in real science
2012 End of the World claims
dominated by pseudo-science
“Pseudoscience speaks to powerful
emotional needs that science often
leaves unfulfilled. It caters to
fantasies about personal powers we
lack and long for.” - Carl Sagan
(1934-96)
19. Worth further research by you:
Health Myths in Sri Lanka: 3 Kinds
First Kind:
Personal beliefs
or habits
Based on dated
info or hearsay
Does no harm to
holders or rest of
society
No health policy
implications or
costs
Second Kind:
Exaggerations or
distortions
Repeated by many
without questioning
Harmful to believer
in certain situations
May have policy
implications & costs
No major societal
damage
Easily debunked
Third Kind:
Fabrications by
vested interests
Falsified science
and/or wrong
interpretations
Actively peddled to
confuse our public
High potential for
fear & panic
Can hold up or
confuse policy
responses
20. MYTHS get in the way…
Discourage individual action
Feed into apathy & fatalism
Mislead collective action
Misguide, distort or paralyse policy
Can also lead, in some cases, to:
waste of public funds
Irreversible damage/loss
lost opportunities to act in time
massive costs of repair/restoration
22. NOT advocating simplistic,
pure technocratic solutions…
Like individuals, nations also
not always driven by rational
arguments or scientific logic…
Emotions & beliefs matter!
Let’s not look for simple techno
fixes to real world problems…
PLEA: Open-minded, broad-
based discussion & debate
Instead of DOGMA or BELIEF!