Free GcMaf is too good an opportunity to miss

The word 'cure' is something in itself to bring about debate and can be so very misleading when applied to ill-health. How many people do we all know who have been told they are 'cured' and free from illness only for it to return and invade their lives once again with heart-breaking results?

I personally have witnessed this on numerous occasions and have seen many family members and friends' lives being destroyed, elated and destroyed again by the cruel diseases that attack our bodies and minds without concern or respect for status or class, youth or age or wealth or poverty.

The wealthy among us and the people who enjoy the benefits of having funded treatment via health insurance either through employment or personal financing spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on receiving the best care and treatments available either locally or by travelling far and wide across the globe seeking out both licensed or alternative treatments. Those options are not available to those who are less fortunate and who simply cannot afford the cost of travel and treatment or even the insurance premiums to provide them with the care and treatment that the more fortunate can afford.

Poverty and deprivation is another matter which cannot be treated by medical factors – but it is crucial in terms of the health opportunities and life-saving options the Guernsey public are surely entitled to.

The health system, and the regulated treatments that are administered both locally and via the island's links with specialist hospitals in the UK, does everything possible to treat our public's illnesses using traditional and approved medical methods. However, what happens to the local public members who cannot afford to explore alternative treatment options when traditional medical methods are simply unable to provide any hope of living?

Deputy Mike Hadley or indeed our HSSD representatives are powerless to provide answers to this question, as rules and regulations exist that allow them to 'ban' specific alternative treatment opportunities unchallenged. This consequently removes all opportunity/right for anyone financially unable to afford to seek alternative treatment having been diagnosed as terminally ill and untreatable either locally or via our UK links. Their option to explore 'hope' of either a full recovery or an extended quality of life is now quite honestly out of their reach and our loved ones are simply assisted to die with great dignity and braveness, having lost the traditional medical battle with illness.

So why is it that the Guernsey public, whatever status of health or wealth, are being denied certain specific alternative opportunities? Deputy Hadley emphasised in his letter to the Guernsey Press dated Wednesday 6 August that Immuno Biotech products were 'at prices which can cause hardship for vulnerable people'.

The facts are that Immuno Biotech Ltd is a Guernsey-registered and locally-based business employing staff in Guernsey as well as running specialised treatment clinics in Switzerland and Germany. Immuno Biotech Ltd presently offers to treat all Guernsey public whatever wealth status free of charge, acting as a local charitable organisation. This is available as a direct result of being funded by those who can afford to legally purchase GcMaf and treatments across Europe and America or are being prescribed this treatment by their own doctors.

So does GcMaf work and is there evidence to prove it? Yes, if we read the scientific papers, study the vast quantities of research available and listen to the testimonials from the survivors who are still alive and enjoying their own quality of life, having been given no hope and just months to live previously.

HSSD's treatment option for terminal cancer illness is palliative care, using combinations of chemotherapy, radiotherapy or an operation, if possible, to prolong life, inclusive of high-strength, prescription pain-killing drugs and even morphine in the last days of their lives. Both my father and brother have experienced this unsurpassed news, having both been told that they were going to die as their cancer grows and spreads without any hope of survival. The palliative care offered is an unknown quantity in terms of how the patient reacts or how their body and mind deals with this medically stoic situation. Patients are faced with making decisions while in a state of shock and distress at their lack of hope or knowledge of survival time.

When this situation arises, why are the Guernsey public being denied the opportunity to seek their own alternative care plan including GcMaf, which may prolong their quality of life without having to undergo invasive surgery or chemotherapy poisoning or radiotherapy burning treatments, pain and debilitating pain-killing drugs? Why can't they be provided with hope that they may be able to beat cancer? If this treatment has proven through many years of testing on thousands of humans that it does no harm, or interfere with other medications, then why should it be denied? What is the alternative?

How can free treatment for the Guernsey public cause hardship? If HSSD are being scrutinised about reducing their annual expenditure, then why aren't they allowing those who want to to exercise their freedom of choice and opt out of highly expensive palliative care, in return for free treatment from a local company providing GcMaf alongside very extensive dietary advice and guidance?

A Good Medical Practice document exists dated March 2013, which can be found on the internet at www.gmc-uk.org/guidance. A review of guideline paragraphs 67-70, Prescribing unlicensed medicines, specifically highlights that there exists a real cause for certified medical professionals to prescribe unlicensed medicines in circumstances that meet the specific needs of the patient.

So could HSSD please explain why they alone have 'banned' GcMaf from Guernsey, while there is no ban being applied anywhere else in the world?

Why is Deputy Hadley, as our appointed representative, so definitely highlighting his rejection of GcMaf as a local treatment plan, while also stating that he and his fellow deputies 'would be delighted and supportive of a company which could be important for the commerce of this island'?

Just how important does it have to be for a politician to endorse our island's economy, being boosted by reduced HSSD expenditure, while the lives of patients without hope are being treated freely by a local business looking to provide commerce on a global scale out of Guernsey?

This is surely something for the people of Guernsey and our appointed representatives to consider and debate and to request full explanations on policy from HSSD as to why Guernsey people are being denied treatment or involvement in medical science and practical health care locally, while being compelled to suffer terminal illness. We have to consider those who simply cannot afford to fly away to receive GcMaf treatment outside of Guernsey.

TONY VERON,

Address withheld.