HEALTH NATIONALISM

Many media outlets are reporting today that the UK Government are considering a ban on foreign nationals having transplant operations as private patients here in the UK. These include The Press Association, The Mirror, and The Sun, while The BBC more accurately and fairly reported that "The government says it will ban all private transplants of organs from dead donors in the UK" rather than singling out foreign nationals for criticism.

It follows an 'independent' report, written by Elisabeth Buggins, former chairwoman of the Organ Donation Taskforce, and commissioned by former Health Secretary Alan Johnson, to look at the issue of non-UK nationals coming to the UK for transplants, including funding arrangements.

It is reported that the review is a response to "an investigation last year by the Mail On Sunday which found surgeons could make £20,000 by operating on private patients from abroad.Liver transplants were being carried out on private Greek and Cypriot patients despite 400 Britons being on the NHS waiting list. Experts called for the practice to end because it would affect public confidence in the transplant service".

Will this witchhunt against 'foreigners' and 'immigrants' and the EU never end? Now it's health issues that have become embroiled in this nationalist nonsense. I notice the report, having the supposed purpose "to optimise the availability of organs for transplant for NHS patients" failed to consider the numbers of foreign-donated organs available to UK patients! I remember the case of the little girl from Hull who had a heart transplant after topping the European Transplant waiting list, the source of her new heart was not disclosed. I wonder how many UK patients benefit from this? It might make more sense to co-operate with other countries, as it is reported that the UK has one of the lowest organ donation rates in Western Europe, so long as money doesn't come into the equation.

This report is just an increasingly weak Government running scared of what they think the majority of the public are saying, and responding to obsessive and narrow-minded media, who twist very important issues in order to mislead the public into becoming as xenophobic as they are.

I welcome a possible outcome that results in organs being given to those in greatest need, not to those with the ability to pay, and hopefully that will be the outcome. But this report, by ignoring the numbers of UK patients receiving foreign-donated organs, fails to address the question of maximising donated organs available to UK patients, and if this Protectionist measure sparks a tit-for-tat response from other countries, it could be the seriously ill here in the UK that lose out.

War in Afghanistan ... why?

With a sharp increase in the number of British troops losing their lives in Afghanistan, the reasons for the British military presence there is coming under increasing public scrutiny.

There has never been a better time to unite (anti-war campaigners and forces' families) in our criticism of this unwinnable war.

Those in the Political elite that continue to argue for the war, are not the ones dying in that land of poverty and hardship.

The father of a recently killed soldier said, "I don't want to think he wasted his life for nothing",('My son died for worthy campaign', BBC news site 10/07/09).

But so long as this poorly resourced and ill-conceived war continues, more soldiers will die in vain. Wars never solved anything, it is time the art of diplomacy was given a try.

Why are we at war? To catch Osama Bin Laden? To eliminate the Taliban? (and do we know who the Taliban really are in 2009?) To impose democracy (note the irony!)? To stop the supply of heroin to the UK? ... well not much progress then ...

... but no, this is why we are there (apparently) ...


"The case for our continued involvement ... is to prevent terrorist attacks here and across the world" (Gordon Brown, No. 10 press release, 13/07/09). This is "our patriotic duty" (Gordon Brown, quoted on itv.com 12/07/09).

"The UK, alongside 40 other nations, are in Afghanistan at the invitation of the democratically elected Afghan government to help rebuild and develop a country emerging from a quarter century of conflict." (UK Foreign and Commonwealth office website, accessed 19/07/09).

Recently I met a British national who had worked in Afghanistan (claiming the Afghans want 'us' there, well sorry I am sceptical), who was 'surprised' at the unpopularity of the British there! I don't know, we destroy their infrastructure, kill countless thousands of their people, create anarchy then support a government accused of corruption, and create such fear and violence that displaces over two million people as refugees, and then they don't seem to like us much. Mmm, puzzling ... (God give me strength!)


The point to my ramblings (yes there is a point!) is that I think it is time we all stood up and demanded that our government (living on another planet from us maybe? If only!) draw up a political strategy to pull the troops out of Afghanistan as quickly as possible, and use some of the money saved to develop that country (given to Afghans not western contractors that leech off supposed international aid) and the rest of the money on UK schools, hospitals or state pensions.

That way we might be able to start building a more ethical relationship of mutual respect with Islamic nations as a way forward in preventing terror attacks.

And it would be the best way to prevent any more loss of life for Afghans and British troops, and if it took the heavy death toll in recent days to bring us to our senses then the deaths won't be in vain, if we continue to bury our heads in the sand and fail to admit the reality, then there will be soldiers dying for nothing.