The Good Thinking Society – Science and Public Education

Simon Singh He is a skeptical British scientist, theoretical physicist, particle physicist, and author of many famous scientific books1). In 2012 he founded Good Thinking Association (GTS). GTS is a non-profit organization whose stated goal is to “encourage curiosity and promote rational thinking”.

Effect

Despite its limited organization, which currently consists of only one employee, broadcast official and skeptical activist Michael MarshallDuring her first 10 years, she had many successes in her battle against pseudoscientific alternative medicine in the UK. Among other things, it monitored the harmful and misleading marketing of sorcery in terms of the so-called unsupported evidence. “cancer treatments”. The number of registrants was also highlighted Charity foundations Served as a cover for unapproved “alternative therapies” and how British Homeopathy Association He failed to get his members to stop spreading anti-vaccine propaganda. The latter has resulted in the homeopathy community voluntarily not renewing its accreditation in 2020 Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

Homeopathy in the UK

Just Natural treatment It was the focus of the GTS. National Health Service (NHS) Homeopathic preparations have long been included in remedies for which you are reimbursed by the National Health Insurance. When GTS in 2015 tried to determine how much public money went to these ineffective sugar pills by the principle of openness, it turned out that obtaining this information was almost impossible. The NHS accounting is simply not set up so that this is accounted for separately at the national level in the overall budget.

Instead, GTS has contacted all hundreds of healthcare districts and clinics that are part of British healthcare. After hard work, it was found that the public sector in Great Britain spent about £5 million annually during the period 2013-2016.

Through various lobbying activities, media campaigns and debates in the media, they worked simultaneously to highlight how this is in violation of special NHS guidance, which states that only evidence-based treatments should be part of the process.

End of general reimbursement for homeopathy

Following the GTS observations, many healthcare areas voluntarily chose to discontinue substituting homeopathic remedies. NHS England (which does not cover NHS Wales or NHS Scotland) announced in July 2017 that it would stop paying for homeopathy, which it also did in November of that year. Wales And the Scotland Later also it largely followed, and homeopathy in Great Britain must now be financed privately by the patient himself.

Inspiration for other countries?

It is difficult to say how well the GTS works against homeopathy in the UK in other countries. France Homeopathy was phased out from public health insurance in 2019 – 2020. On October 6, 2022, the German Minister of Health announced, Karl LauterbachHe said he would launch an investigation into whether homeopathy could be excluded from German health insurance. It cannot be excluded that the developments in Great Britain were inspired by France and Germany and thus indirectly by the excellent work of the Good Thinking Society.

At the same time, GTS continues to fight pseudoscience in other areas. Michael Marshall also participates in the podcast “K Skeptics”2) Who publishes a new episode every Thursday.

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