UNITED KINGDOM, September 23, 2004: General Secretary for the Hindu Council in the United Kingdom (“source”), Anil Bhanot, delivered a speech on health issues unique to Hindus living in the country. In her address, Bhanot speaks candidly about these issues. She points out that Hindus do have a different diet than the rest of the population and often sedentary life styles. As a result, Bhanot says, “There is a much higher risk of heart disease, problems with insulin and therefore diabetes, increased prevalence of anaemia, high cholesterol and blood pressure etc.” Bhanot suggests that the Asian population be educated about the nutrient content and fat content of their diet that consists primarily of white rice, chapatis, and milk products if they are vegetarians. (HPI adds that Bhanot did not suggest that the diet be adjusted to include brown rice and chapatis made with whole wheat flour and that clarified butter, olive oil, or canola oil should be used as healthy alternatives to any other kind of oil. Bhanot also did not divide the findings between vegetarian Hindus and non-vegetarian Hindus nor did she make any distinction between those who curb the use of white sugar in their diet.)
Bhanot did, however, address other issues in her speech such as the lack of proper vegetarian food in most London hospitals. Vegetarians in these hospitals end up eating bread and butter. Also these same Hindus are faced with a language barrier. The doctors do not understand them and they do not understand the doctor. An incident is cited where a Sikh priest who was diagnosed with diarrhea was actually having a heart attack. An Indian doctor luckily communicated with the priest before it was too late.
Hindu patients who suffer a stroke have no access to speech therapists who speak Hindi, Tamil or Gujarati. Upon returning home, these patients suffering from a stroke or dementia encounter social stigma and are not allowed to leave their homes. Again, the community needs to be educated about these illnesses. Bhanot talks about Hindu teen pregnancies which she notes are very rare. However, if a girl is found to be pregnant, she would be thrown out of her home. There are not enough Asian social workers or support services available to help the girl. Bhanot adds, “Our elderly also do not have adequate support services though we have found that medical camps run by certain Hindu charities like Saibaba centres, Sewa International, Lions club etc. are very popular with them, where they can talk to various doctors in their own language and get a satisfactory diagnosis of their problems.” Last but not least, Bhanot gives extensive credit to the Hindu health system of Ayurveda. She notes that in India Ayurveda doctors study the complex system of medicine for several years but in the U.K. one can be licensed to practise this alternative medicine after only six months of training.
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