Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) is an insect-borne tropical disease that begins with flu-like symptoms and can end with heart failure for 20-30% of those infected. There are pharmaceutical treatments available which can reduce symptoms (and have up to a 90% cure rate for infants and young children). But recently, Global Affairs Canada allocated $350,000 to send volunteer homeopathic practitioners to Honduras to provide homeopathic “treatments”. Perhaps the Global Affairs staff mean well. Perhaps they believe there is some link between the group they are funding and the (well-known effective humanitarian organisation) Doctors without Borders. But homeopathy is pure quackery — there is not even a feasible mechanism for homeopathic “medicines” to work, because they contain no active ingredients.
This is clearly a misuse of our tax-supported international aid money, and we encourage readers to contact the Minister of International Development by email to Marie-Claude.Bibeau@parl.gc.ca (Twitter: @mclaudebibeau), or by postal mail to:
Mme. Marie Claude Bibeau
Confederation Building, Suite 407
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
You may also wish to contact your local MP. (Note that you do not need a stamp to send mail to an MP.)