“Bawal magkasakit” ( It is prohibited to get sick.) This is often said in jest but the admonition cannot be taken too lightly. Being ill has implications beyond the aches and pains of the sick individual. In these hard economic times a very serious implication is the cost of being sick – the cost of professional care and of medicine. This has reached a point that a law has been passed setting caps on the cost of a number of ethical drugs manufactured and marketed in the Philippines by large multinational pharmaceutical companies. It is claimed that the Philippines has one of the highest cost of medicines in the region. One day’s dose of a widely prescribed antibiotic can cost as much as the daily minimum wage of a worker.
The Silsilah Dialogue Movement has considered this situation and sought how it can respond to the need/s the situation has created. After a time of reflection Silsilah has defined its response from the perspective of dialogue with creation, one of the pillars of dialogue that Silsilah pursues. Thus, the Silsilah Holistic Health Care, Training and Research Center.
The program will undertake to educate people about the factors that contribute to wellness and to acquire knowledge and skills on how to handle , say, a fever, when this will strike a member of the family or the community. The focus is not to implement a para-medic program or a “botica sa barangay” program but to be more keenly aware that in nature we find the contributors to our wellness or to our illness. Also, in nature we find remedies to our occasional maladies.
Much has been said about the relationship between health and the environment. Air pollution affects many to suffer respiratory types of illness.
Pollution of water sources leads to conditions like diarrhea, dysentery and other stomach troubles. Excessive use of certain types of pesticides on crops have been identified as a cause of serious diseases like cancer.Noise pollution can lead to stress headaches. Much of the abuse of the environment, arising from man’s failure to understand and appreciate enough the dynamics of the relationship between man and creation, has been like a boomerang that comes back and inflicts negative impacts on man’s health. Pollution of water sources leads to conditions like diarrhea, dysentery and other stomach troubles. Excessive use of certain types of pesticides on crops have been identified as a cause of serious diseases like cancer.Noise pollution can lead to stress headaches. Much of the abuse of the environment, arising from man’s failure to understand and appreciate enough the dynamics of the relationship between man and creation, has been like a boomerang that comes back and inflicts negative impacts on man’s health.
Fortunately, for those who are most vulnerable and yet with the least capability to obtain the medicines to treat their aches and pains, nature can be the source of simple remedies.
The Holistic Health Care program that Silsilah envisions will
○ Offer basic health care with emphasis on prevention and homeopathic medicine
○ Provide training for Muslim and Christian residents in various barangays who will share their skills and services with other residents in their respective communities
○ Disseminate knowledge on the preparation and use of herbal remedies for simple medical conditions
○ Engage in research on traditional and indigenous medicine and health practices in collaboration with other health care and research groups In support of these, a building is going up within Harmony Village which will be the focal point of all the planned activities. The building is made possible with the generous support of benefactors in Europe.