| Traditional healers demand protection from charlatans A number of public and consumer organizations require recognition of traditional medicine and healing as a full-fledged branch of the national economy of our country. Yesterday, their leaders, as well as the State Duma deputy and Chairman of the Consumer Union Petr Shelishch, who joined them, issued a joint statement demanding that the authorities not interfere with citizens in exercising their constitutional right to engage in witchcraft. And certainly not to be prosecuted for this under the new Code of Administrative Offenses - according to healers, only traditional medicine charlatans who shamelessly profit from the misfortunes of ordinary Russians should be punished.
Actually, it was the entry into force of the new Code of Administrative Offenses that prompted professional healers to remind the authorities, and at the same time the public, which had already forgotten even such names as Kashpirovsky and Chumak, of their existence. The fact is that since July 1, more than 40,000 masters of traditional medicine, healers, were, as it were, outside the law. After all, the Code of Administrative Offenses, in particular, provides for a fine in the amount of 15 to 20 times the minimum wage for unauthorized practice of healing. Almost all healers fall under this article, since traditional medicine, although officially recognized by the authorities, is still not licensed as a type of activity. According to the leaders of the Professional Association of Traditional Medicine, this has previously forced real healers to sacrifice their reputation and classify themselves in advertisements as magicians, sorcerers, ventriloquists and other occult brethren. Thus, says Lyudmila Avilova, president of the Moscow branch of the association, it was easier to register as an entrepreneur in the field of social and domestic consulting. Now the authorities are simply driving healers underground.
The leaders of the Traditional Medicine Association accused the Russian government of “social discrimination carried out in an organized manner over a long historical period.” The fact is that for nine years now, Article 57 of the Law “On the Protection of Citizens’ Health” has written: “Citizens of the Russian Federation who have received a healer’s diploma issued by health authorities have the right to practice traditional medicine.” However, only 16 out of 89 federal subjects have issued, are issuing, or are ready to issue such documents. But now this process has been practically suspended - localities are awaiting clarification from the Ministry of Health and other regulatory bodies. And the latter are in no hurry. And therefore official medicine does not command respect from traditional medicine. “The Ministry of Health is simply hiding its head in the sand, although it should promote the emergence of self-regulatory organizations of healers that will create their own standards,” the leaders of the healing association said yesterday. And the rector of the Institute for Social Development of Natural Abilities, Andrei Goryunov, generally complained that healers who want to make the provision of their services legal are “considered to be non-citizens.” After all, the Constitution contains provisions on free labor and the right of everyone to freely choose their type of activity and profession.
All this, says State Duma deputy Pyotr Shelishch, ultimately results in a violation of consumer rights. Since ordinary citizens who trust healers have no guarantees of protection from unorganized, “wild” healing and quackery. Mr. Shelishch is convinced that if the state does not understand anything about such a delicate issue, “we must trust that part of the community that claims that it knows how to regulate this activity.” Because, if the necessary measures are not taken, the already criminalized traditional medicine market will be filled with a huge number of outright scammers.
True, experts in the field of traditional medicine and consumer protection explained very vaguely how to separate a true healer from a charlatan. According to members of the association, in principle, any person has the right to engage in healing, since everyone has the ability for this noble activity, developed to a greater or lesser extent. However, training in bioenergy correction courses, a presentation or a diploma obtained from associations of professional healers should remove most of the doubts from the consumer.
Since the government remains one of the few entities that is not susceptible to the influence of individual traditional healers, the latter intend to unite their forces. As it was announced yesterday, the founding congress of the All-Russian Professional Union of Healers will take place in October 2002, at which a more effective “mechanism of interaction between healers and the state” will be developed. Nina KARPINSKAYA |
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