The good news is that the
government has just announced free Vitamin D pills for 2.5 million vulnerable
people in England. People who are able to buy a Vitamin D supplement and start
taking them now, ahead of a free delivery, are advised to do so. I for one am
delighted because research going back to the 1920’s has been shining a light on
the merits of Vitamin D. That’s nearly a century ago.
The bad news is that the
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, has for quite some time now
been arguing that there is no value in considering Vitamin D supplements. This
in spite of research from around the world showing a link between coronavirus
and Vitamin D deficiency in patients.
It gets a bit messier, as
just a few weeks ago the health secretary told the House of Commons that a “trial”
investigating Vitamin D had taken place, and that it did not “appear to have
any impact” on the effects of Covid-19. Just when you thought things could not
get any worse…. wait for it…. officials have now admitted that NO clinical
trials on the vitamin have been carried out at all.
Not sure about you, but I
feel numb.
On the face of it the honourable gentleman is either;
- Totally incompetent – in which case why is he in the position of deciding on matters of life and death? or
- Has been very economic with the truth or
- Possibly has conflicting commercial interest
I however refuse to
accept the allegation of incompetence levied at Mr Hancock or many of his other
Oxonian colleagues. As an extremely lucky guy who won a Scholarship to Oxford I
have the greatest respect for the University and during the many years I spent
there not once did I come across anyone or anything less than awe inspiring,
thought provoking and amazing.
There is another insight
I can share with you to help you find an answer to the above question and that
is a 2010 editorial in The British Medical Journal – entitled, “Conflicts of
interest and pandemic flu”. Here is an excerpt from the editorial:
WHO
must act now to restore its credibility, and Europe should legislate
The world should of course be thankful that the 2009
influenza A/H1N1 pandemic proved such a damp squib. With so many fewer lives
lost than had been predicted, it almost seems ungrateful to carp about the
cost. But carp we must because the cost has been huge. Some countries—notably
Poland—declined to join the panic buying of vaccines and antivirals triggered
when the World Health Organization declared the pandemic a year ago this week.
However, countries like France and the United Kingdom who have stockpiled drugs
and vaccines are now busy unpicking vaccine contracts, selling unused vaccine
to other countries, and sitting on huge piles of unused oseltamivir. Meanwhile
drug companies have banked vast profits—$7bn (£4.8bn; €5.7bn) to $10bn from
vaccines alone according to investment bank JP Morgan. Given the scale of
public cost and private profit, it would seem important to know that WHO’s key
decisions were free from commercial influence.
An investigation by the BMJ and the Bureau of
Investigative Journalism, published this week (doi:10.1136/bmj.c2912), finds that
this was far from the case.
As reported by Deborah Cohen and Philip Carter, some of the experts advising
WHO on the pandemic had declarable financial ties with drug companies that were
producing antivirals and influenza vaccines. As an example, WHO’s guidance on
the use of antivirals in a pandemic was authored by an influenza expert who at
the same time was receiving payments from Roche, the manufacturer of
oseltamivir (Tamiflu), for consultancy work and lecturing.
Commercially speaking there is not a single large corporation that would benefit from the sale of Vitamin D. No one therefore cares enough to bring about the lobbying, PR and deal making of the nature you are likely to see employed to promote a killer drug like Oxycontin to promote the benefits of Vitamin D.
Irrespective of what you
decide the answer to the question regarding Mr Hancock is – the big ask of any
guardian angel of health is for it to promote what makes the sick healthy and
what prevents the healthy from becoming sick on the basis of unadulterated
science rather than formidable lobbying.
I for one am clear as to
which approach will ensure the longevity of our wonderful democracy.
Dr Sepe Sehati, November 2020
Note: Neither ClickTell or I have any shares or commercial interest in any Vitamin D related companies. Especially in winter months you and your wonderful family are likely to benefit from taking 10 microgram/day of Vitamin D supplement or cod liver oil. As always check with your GP first.
