Medical tourism: where the jobs are

MEDICAL TOURISM, the country’s youngest growth industry, has a long way to go—and a lot of employees to recruit—to attain its goal of earning some P135 billion by 2015.

Optimistic government projections say this massive amount of money will come from the one million medical tourists expected to arrive in the next five years. There were some 60,000 medical tourists in 2007 and 100,000 in 2008. Our medical tourism industry has earned about P16 billion since 2004 when the government took its first steps in making medical tourism an industry.

Much of that money went to doctors, nurses, physical therapists, spa personnel, reflexologists, masseuses and tourism personnel who populate the medical tourism industry, which also goes by the name health and wellness tourism industry and the medical travel industry.

Worldwide, medical tourism today is worth from P1.8 to P2.7 trillion and is growing annually at a rate of 20%, so it could be a P8.5 trillion global business by 2013.

Jobs in medical tourism

Medical tourism is widely defined as a health holiday that includes cost effective private medical care and tour packages (sightseeing, golf and shopping, for example). It also includes leisure and relaxation activities such as spa therapies to re-invigorate patients.

The government said employment in medical tourism rose 13% from 2003 to 2005 to around 239,000 employees (or about one percent of total employment in the Philippines). Clearly, medical tourism is the place to be for medical, tourism and hotel and restaurant management students who could earn big without leaving the Philippines to work abroad.

Medical tourism will also enhance complementary industries such as travel, airlines and hospitality. And, equally important, medical tourism could reduce and reverse the brain drain of Filipino medical professionals (especially doctors and nurses) who continue to go abroad to work.

And where are these medical tourism jobs located? They’re mostly in two places: Metro Manila for the medical aspect of medical tourism and Cebu for both the medical and wellness side of the equation.

Without doubt, Metro Manila is this country’s center for the medical arts and medical education. Two of the country’s three hospitals accredited as medical tourism hospitals are in Metro Manila: St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City and Medical City in Pasig City. The other accredited hospital is the Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City. Private hospitals in Metro Manila offer the best in medical facilities equal to western hospitals, with some providing accommodations similar to that of five-star hotels.

The opening of St. Luke’s Medical Center at the Global City in Taguig City in January 2010 was a landmark in the medical tourism industry. St. Luke’s Taguig is the country’s first hospital designed from the ground up for medical tourism.

St. Luke's Medical Center, Global City

St. Luke’s Taguig, sister hospital of St. Luke’s Quezon City, houses 374 doctors’ clinics, 18 operating rooms, 5 caesarian section and delivery rooms, imaging suites, critical care units, a cardiac catheriterization laboratory, ob-gynecology, a post-anesthetic care unit and 10 institutes (Heart, Cancer, Neurosciences, Digestive and Liver Diseases, Eye, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Pathology, Pulmonary Medicine, Radiology, and Pediatrics and Child Health).

St. Luke’s Taguig is regarded as the best hospital in the Philippines today and one of the best in the world. It is better-equipped than 95% of hospitals in the USA. The hospital caters to two main markets— medical tourism and patients from the Makati Central Business District. The government said the opening of St. Luke’s Taguig should strengthen the Philippines’ medical tourism industry, and boost the Philippines as an excellent retirement location.

Accreditation enhances the quality of medical care by providing quality standards and measuring hospital performance against internationally accepted benchmarks. Having more accredited hospitals could help convince more medical tourists to choose the Philippines instead of other countries. All three of our accredited hospitals were accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI), an international agency that certifies hospitals and other healthcare facilities worldwide.

“The Philippines will only succeed if more medical institutions will get international accreditation and improve medical services,” said Dr. Anthony Calibo, Program Manager of the Philippine Medical Tourism Program under the Department of Health (DOH).

Cebu medical tourism

The heart of the Philippines’ tourism industry lies in the Visayas and the jewels of the region’s tourism industry are Cebu and Boracay. The accreditation of Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City as one of only three medical tourism accredited hospitals indicates the Visayas realizes the potential of medical tourism and is doing something about it.

The ongoing tourism boom is also expected to further benefit medical tourism in Cebu. Cebu is visited every year by a third of all tourists to the Philippines and is also the most popular tourist destination among foreigners, followed by Boracay. Of the top five tourist destinations in the Philippines, four are in the Visayas. Some 8,000 more hotel and resort rooms are expected to open in the next five years, mostly in Cebu and Metro Manila, bringing a massive number of jobs.

Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City

 In 2009, those jobs were at Cebu’s P3.2 billion Imperial Palace Water Park, Resort and Spa (800 jobs), the Radisson Hotel in Cebu City and the P8.5 million San Remigio Beach Club in northern Cebu. New hotels at Boracay are the Shangri-La Boracay Resort and Spa, Crowne Regency, Phonex Hotel, Boracay Regency Lagoon, Seven Stones and Grand Water.

Its combined medical and wellness aspects make medical tourism in Cebu unique. A medical tourist can have a medical, cosmetic or surgical procedure performed in Cebu City, relax at a spa then tour any of the world class tourism sites in the province, in the Visayas or in Mindanao.

“The Wellness Island of Cebu” is how the province promotes itself to medical tourists. Officials in charge of this effort say Cebu has many advantages as a medical tourist destination: low cost medical procedures (from 50% to 90% cheaper than those in the USA); competent and experienced doctors and medical personnel; the wide use of English and the natural tendency of Cebuanos (and Filipinos, in general) towards compassionate caregiving. There are also a large number of spas that help facilitate recovery.

Good years ahead

Good years lie ahead for medical tourism. This October will see the holding of the 2010 International Summit on Medical Travel, Wellness and Retirement (IMWELL) Summit where experts from the hospitality, healthcare, travel and wellness industries around the world will discuss how to make the Philippines the next preferred medical travel destination in Asia.

The ongoing crisis in U.S. healthcare is also expected to boost our medical tourism. The U.S. accounts for P77 trillion of the P149 trillion spent annually for healthcare worldwide. Although Americans spend more for healthcare than any country in the world, the quality of the healthcare they receive is abysmal: the World Health Organization ranks the U.S. 37^th when it comes to quality of healthcare. The top healthcare nations are in Europe.

Consequently, Americans are increasingly turning overseas to address their healthcare needs as their healthcare insurance costs skyrocket at a higher rate than overall inflation. The market for our medical tourism: uninsured Americans and a large number of underinsured since the procedures they mostly undergo (such as cosmetic surgery) are elective and not covered by health insurance. The U.S. also faces a sharp cut in new physicians entering its healthcare system.

Medical tourism today, however, isn’t common enough to play a role in U.S. healthcare reform—not yet, at least. One estimate said medical travel spending accounted for no more 1% (P10.8 billion) of the P108 trillion spent on healthcare in the U.S. in 2007.

Medical travel in the U.S. is gaining ground, however. The four largest commercial U.S. health insurers have either launched pilot programs offering medical tourism or are exploring it. The influential American Medical Association has released new guidelines on medical tourism intended to inform and advise patients, employers, insurers and those coordinating international healthcare about how to ensure the quality and safety of patient care internationally.

(Published in Enrich magazine, 2010)

The Slave

LUCIUS read the letter carefully. 

It was so typical of his cynical old uncle—a humorous Roman—but a rogue if ever one lived. Sometimes one's better instincts resented his uncle's heartless cynicism and his frank, unblushing extravagance. 

But his witty apologies made one forget one's resentment in the roar of laughter that acknowledged his cleverness.

"Lucius, my son," he wrote, using, the young man noticed, the best parchment and not common wax slates, "the slaves I send you are a bit of Roman civilization to console you in the midst of your Jewish exile. They cost me a great deal so use them well. 

“The Gothic barbarian is strong enough to serve as porter or bully. The Greek is a skilled secretary who will write your letters or heal your aches. 

"And the girl . . . Oh, Lucius, my generous heart alone makes me send her to you when my artistic nature bids me not to do so. Think of your old uncle affectionately. Hail and farewell." 

Lucius looked up at the messenger who had delivered the parchment.

"Where are the slaves?" he asked.

"At the exchange of Synesius the Persian,” replied the messenger with bowed head. 

“He awaits your acceptance. We brought them carefully from Rome to Jerusalem by the best boats and the smoothest wheels. Your uncle bade us commit them to you in perfect condition."

"We shall see them," said Lucius sternly, using the pronoun uttered by the rich elite to emphasize their exceptionalism.

It was like his rascally old uncle to remember him in his diplomatic posting to the Province of Judea. The Goth he could use for a bodyguard. Romans needed bodyguards when mad Messiahs ran berserk on Jerusalem’s dirty streets. The educated Greek could be commanded to do many things for Greeks were both clever and useful. 

But the girl . . . ?

A disturbing gift

How like his uncle to send him a girl slave. Lucius frowned. Was his uncle a true friend or a clever enemy out to sabotage his ascent into the higher realm of Roman politics?

A girl was either trouble or a source of trouble. But a girl slave could be more trouble than she was worth. He had seen it before with debauched slave owners. 

He needed to focus all his energy on his goal of returning to Rome cloaked in glory. This slave girl, or any woman, would complicate his great, personal mission immensely.

Lucius boarded the “lectica” borne by four slaves. Four Roman legionaries clad in armored tunics accompanied the procession through Jerusalem’s crowded streets: past bales and boxes, animal cages, bunches of fruit, and through the thousand smells of spices, sandalwood and human sweat.

Lucius alighted from the sedan at the exchange of Synesius the Persian, who welcomed him fearfully. The Persian led him to a small room, rough yet fitted for human occupancy. 

Here sat the dirty, hairy Goth; the Greek, who had somehow remained spotlessly clean despite the long journey from Rome, and the girl, hidden by the shadow of a column.

Lucius appraised the Goth and the Greek quickly and with a satisfied glance. Synesius dragged the girl from within the shadow and Lucius now understood why his uncle hesitated giving her away. 

She was young and truly beautiful, her lean figure unable to detract from a charm that was magnified by her shimmering blonde hair.

“Why is she clothed in rags?” Lucius demanded.

"She would not dress in the fine garments we brought her," apologized the messenger. "I am sorry."

Lucius stared at his beautiful slave and understood why she refused the rich garments; they would have made her irresistible. He lifted-up her chin so his eyes could feast more on her lovely face. Instead, Lucius saw terror in her brilliant blue eyes. 

"Come," Lucius commanded the messenger. "'We shall take them to my house."

A brave Jewess

The burly Goth lumbered onward followed by the Greek who walked in mincing steps. The girl had to be prodded forward by the irritated messenger. The slaves were all in chains. 

This motley assemblage paused at the street entrance to Synesius’ compound while Lucius and the Persian discussed the business at hand. 

The slave girl slumps against a pillar, resigned to an evil fate at the hands of her Roman master. She begins to sob.

A gentle hand on her shoulder makes the slave girl look up and stop crying. A smiling woman embraces her, saying soothing words she did not understand but took to be words of pity. 

The slave girl raises her chained arms. The woman takes off her blue cloak and uses it to cover the slave girl’s badly torn garments.

“You! Move away from that slave!” shouts the messenger in Hebrew. 

One of their Roman soldier escorts, hearing the shout, moves towards the women, his right hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword.

Lucius looks up to see a commotion and growing crowd of onlookers. Hurrying forward, he sees his slave girl clinging to the shoulder of this woman he assumes to be a Jew. 

The messenger and the soldier wait for Lucius to speak.

“Tell the Jewess to leave,” commands Lucius to the messenger, who does so in Hebrew.

In reply, the Jewess lifts the slave girl and embraces her. 

“Tell the Jewess she will die if she does not leave.” 

And having said that, Lucius commands the Roman soldier to unsheathe his short sword. This, the soldier does and moves closer to the Jewess.

The messenger translates Lucius’ command. 

The milling crowd of Jews gasps collectively upon hearing the threat. More Jews gather. The remaining three Roman soldiers form a wall between the growing mob and their Roman master. 

The Jewess and the slave girl embrace each other more tightly than before. It tells Lucius they are ready to die together. The Jewess speaks loudly so all can hear.

“What did she say?” Lucius asks the messenger.

She begs you to set this slave girl free. The Jewess says she will pay for your slave girl with all the money she has, the messenger replies.

Lucius scoffs. How much money can a poverty stricken Jewess carry on her person?

He approaches the two women. 

“Tell the Jewess to show me what money she carries,” he commands the messenger.

The Jewess takes a purse from beneath her robe. She pours all the contents into the palm of her left hand: three Herodean coins.

The messenger breaks into loud, mocking laughter. Lucius sneers. 

“Not even enough for a pigeon,” he gloats. 

Lucius nods at the Roman soldier who moves to within a sword’s length of the women. The slave girl wails in panic, begging for her life, but the Jewess stands bravely in the face of imminent death.

An overwhelming kindness

Lucius’ eyes fasten onto those of the Jewess. Her iron gaze stares back at him. 

She is unafraid, this Lucius can see. He admires strength, which is all too often absent in women.

But as she stares at this doomed Jewess, Lucius realizes it is not hatred he sees in her eyes. It is an overwhelming kindness. 

Only now does Lucius really see her face. Unclouded by prejudice, Lucius becomes aware of an elderly woman whose great suffering has not diminished her love of God or her respect for others. 

He becomes aware he stands in the presence of a mother who has undergone the incredible pain of great personal loss, but who does not hate. He becomes aware of a woman who bore into the world The Son of God.

This epiphany stuns Lucius. It is as if someone were talking to him and telling him the story of this Jewess.

Lucius is abruptly awakened from this vision by angry shouts. He looks farther afield to see his three Roman guards pressed backwards by an ever larger mass of bystanders. He looks at the Jewess.

“Tell her I accept her payment,” says Lucius to the messenger.

“What?” the messenger replies incredulously.

 “Tell her now and shout it out! Do it . . . now!” Lucius commands.

The messenger yells Lucius’ reply. The shouting and pushing from the crowd ceases. 

“Take her money,” he tells the messenger. 

He turns to Synesius.

“Free the Goth and the Greek. Unchain the girl.”

The messenger shouts to the crowd what Lucius has done. Synesius complies with Lucius’ order and the two freed men hurry towards the two women.

“Tell them they are all free to go.”

The freed slaves thank Lucius profusely in their own languages. They shout with joy. The crowd roars with them.

The Jewess approaches Lucius and speaks.

She says she knew you would set them all free, translates the messenger. 

“We thank you,” she added.

“We?” asked Lucius, who is shocked to suddenly understand what the Jewess is saying in Hebrew. The messenger is dumbfounded to hear the Jewess speak in Latin and the Roman in Hebrew.

“My Son and I,” she replied. 

“Your son?”

“His name is Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God.”

“Your name is . . . Mary,” says the astonished Roman. “Why do I know your name and understand your language?”

The Jewess smiles faintly. “My Son has touched you.”

So saying, Mary the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, departs the Roman’s presence, taking with her the three persons freed from bondage by a miracle.

Make your car healthier and safer

NOTICE HOW WADS of crisp, newly printed P1,000 bills or the interior of a brand new car emit certain odors that make you giddy with delight?

The scent of clean, new money is a wonderful “pick-me-up” caused by chemicals in the special inks used in printing these bills. You could literally call the effect produced by these inks “a million peso high.”

The odor emitted by the interior of a brand new car, on the other hand, comes from the many chemical compounds used to make practically everything inside the passenger compartment.

Those chemicals, baked by the heat inside the closed compartment, produce that distinctive “new car smell” that assaults your senses once you open the car door. You could also describe the effect as a “million peso high” since many new cars in this country cost over a million pesos.

Unlike the harmless giddiness produced by money, however, that “new car smell” comes from toxic gases—and could be dangerous to your health.

PBDEs and phthalates

In 2006, a groundbreaking study released by The Ecology Center showed that interiors of cars and other motor vehicles contain dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. The Ecology Center is a membership-based, nonprofit environmental organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan that keeps tabs on toxic car chemicals.

Its 2006 report entitled, "Toxic At Any Speed: Chemicals in Cars and the Need for Safe Alternatives," reveals that many materials producing that “new car smell” are made from toxic chemicals known to pose major public health risks.

Car interiors are made from different kinds of plastics or “plasticized” leather. According to health experts, these plastics constantly emit toxins vaporized from the different plastic components in the car’s interior.

New cars carry 250 pounds of plastic on average. Most of these plastics are used in arm rests, door panels, steering wheels, dashboards, interior seat cushions and switches.

This toxic chemical climate in automobile interiors is normally caused by “PBDEs,” (chemicals used as fire retardants) and “phthalates,” (or phthalic acid esters, which are chemicals used to soften PVC plastics). The study found PBDEs and phthalates in dangerous amounts in dust and windshield film samples.

PBDEs or Polybrominated diphenyl ethers are organobromine compounds used as flame retardants. The European Union has banned the use of PBDEs and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) in electric and electronic devices out of health concerns.

PBDEs and phthalates are considered volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These are carbon-based chemicals that can evaporate into the air under the right conditions such as high temperatures caused by sunlight.

The most prevalent VOCs found in new cars are benzene (a human carcinogen); ethylbenzene (a systemic toxic agent) and acetone (a mucosal irritant).

“Off-gassing”

The Ecology Center described cars as “chemical reactors” that release toxins in a process called “off-gassing.” It said PBDE, phthalates and other chemicals are inhaled or ingested by drivers and passengers through dust and air, potentially causing allergic or other acute reactions, and long-term health problems such as birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity and cancer.

Off-gassing is triggered by high interior temperatures caused by sunlight, a process that accelerates in cars parked under the sun. The combination of higher temperatures caused by windshields and windows, and UV exposure from sunlight can cause PBDEs in cars to become up to five times more dangerous than in homes and offices.

The study also showed significantly higher levels of PBDEs in vehicles studied compared to levels in homes and offices measured in previous studies, making “in-car pollution” a major source of indoor air pollution.

The study said toxic chemical exposure inside vehicles is a major source of potential indoor air pollution since the average American spends about 1.5 hours in a car everyday. Children are the most vulnerable to off-gassing.

U.S. automakers, however, believe that chemicals such as the PBDE flame retardants are needed to protect people in crashes. They claim these chemicals have been shown not to pose a risk to occupants.

“Safe” plastics

The Ecology Center’s website at www.healthycar.org provides a wealth of information about the dangers of off-gassing. HealthyCar.org tested some 450 of the most popular vehicle models in the U.S. from 2006-2009.

It noted that two car makers had made significant improvements since the original findings and had joined another company as the three leaders in using “safe” plastics for indoor auto parts. The trio also widely uses bio-based materials; is improving interior air quality and reducing PVC use.

One maker developed an eco-plastic made from sugar cane or corn and is building a pilot plant to produce it. Another is developing a soy-based foam and a bio-fabric for its car seats.

Japanese car makers, however, became the first to set an industry-wide goal of reducing VOCs in passenger compartments. They agreed to cut levels of 13 VOCs (including styrene and formaldehyde) to match Japanese requirements for homes.

A separate study on VOCs, PBDEs and phthalates conducted by Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) discovered extremely high levels of these substances in new cars.

It found that total VOC levels were very high in two locally made cars that reached the market one to two months after manufacture. These levels decreased some seven-fold in the first month, but still exceeded Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council indoor air standard.

While there is no comparable study in the Philippines, it is probably safe to assume that Filipino drivers and passengers face the same dangers from off-gassing as do their American and Australian counterparts.

One must remember, however, that exposure to VOCs, PBDEs and phthalates does not automatically mean one will get sick.

Among the many factors that determine if new car owners and their passengers may become ill from off-gassing include exposure to one or more individual VOCs or VOC combinations that create another compound; length of time of exposure and personal characteristics such as age and general health status.

Tips for a healthier car

Filipino car owners will also benefit from these tips on how to minimize the dangers from off-gassing and make their cars healthier:

• Vacuum often;
• Use solar reflectors often;
• Ventilate the car interior often;
• Park in the shade or away from sunlight as much as possible

The sculptor of God

“YOU ARE A GREAT artist, Theos. The gods use you to shower beauty upon mankind."

Theos bowed in acknowledgment of the compliment and flexed his scarred and bandaged fingers.

“Magnificent!” exclaimed his patron as he gazed in awe at the many glorious sculptures in Theos' studio never before seen by other men.

“All of this is truly divine. And to think you created these works of genius here in drab, uninspiring Jerusalem. Jerusalem of all places! The gods love you, Theos. Athena is surely pleased.”

“They bless me with my gift,” replied the Greek sculptor modestly. “I am honored by their divine favors.”

“And when do you take all these to Rome?” asked the aristocrat.

“A month from today.”

“Let those copycat Romans envy magnificent Greek art! The barbarians!” exclaimed the Greek aristocrat with pride.

“I thank you for your generous patronage. None of this would have been possible without your munificence,” said Theos.

“Think nothing of it,” said the portly aristocrat with a broad smile. “This will be a very profitable investment for my business partners and I.

“The Romans will pay extravagantly for your exquisite creations. Very extravagantly! How many sculptures in all?”

“There are 10 and they are all life-size depictions of beautiful goddesses and beautiful women,” replied Theos.

“They look so lifelike! Your hands are truly blessed by the gods, Theos. I think I desire them all,” said the aristocrat, who then broke into hearty laughter.

“I, too, love them all,” Theos stated.

“But Aphrodite is the loveliest by far among these blessed women and it is fitting the goddess of love should have a statue that makes men insane with ecstasy.”

Theos led the aristocrat to Aphrodite’s gleaming statue and the incredible realism of its beauty left the guest awestruck.

“This is miraculous! She has to be alive!” the wide-eyed aristocrat shouted.

He reached out with trembling arm to touch the statue, and exhaled in relief when he felt cold marble and not warm flesh.

“How did you do this?”

“I am possessed by the gods,” the sculptor calmly replied.

“Intense beauty is a blinding light that confounds the senses so that one is unable to discern living flesh from inanimate stone,” Theos explained.

“The gods have infused my hands with magic. They control me when I work so I feel neither exhaustion nor pain. The goad is an unrelenting quest for the beautiful. All are enslaved by the beautiful.”

The aristocrat stared at Theos and thought him half-mad after this discourse he barely understood.

Great artists were said to be like that, he had heard. Or were they half-godlike? No matter. The aristocrat shook off this unaccustomed musing and bade Theos farewell.

“Protect your creations with your life,” he said on departing.

“I shall.”

Alone with his women, Theos dropped wearily onto a cot, raising a plume of dust. He coughed heavily and massaged the fingers of his trembling hands.

A mind tormented by a manic zeal and a hairsbreadth away from insanity was not the only price paid by a great artist, he mused. His body also suffered greatly.

He failed to tell the aristocrat of the exhaustion and pain that tore through his body after the exhilaration of creation faded. But he lied when he declared Olympian gods were the wellspring of his wondrous skill.

He should have said his Lord, Jesus Christ, had blessed him with this marvelous gift through a miracle of Mary, His Mother.

But to have done so would have infuriated the aristocrat and he would have hurled Theos back into the dire poverty from whence he escaped. Theos had no more stomach for poverty.

He was now almost rich and famous and would become undeniably so when his women were presented in magnificent Rome, the capital of the universe, where art flourished amidst inexhaustible wealth.

He wept because of his lies and asked Jesus’ forgiveness. He arose from the cot and opened a locked cabinet. Inside was an ornately designed box etched with symbols from Christ’s Passion Theos himself had carved with the greatest care.

The minute, carved figures seemed to spring to life. Such was Theos’ incredible skill that he could infuse the illusion of life into objects he created, whether large or intricately small.

Inside the box were two objects wrapped in cloth dyed Tyrian purple, the color only Roman Emperors could wear. It meant certain death if he were to be caught with these purple garments, but Jesus was worthy of the highest praise.

The artist unwrapped the first object and with great reverence set upon the alcove a sculpture depicting the face of His Lord, Jesus Christ. The second was that of the woman whose intercession had changed Theos’ life forever: Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

As with his other sculptures, these two were magnificent works of genius. More than all the rest, however, they were the finest Theos had ever created or would ever create.

The detail was startling: one could discern the folds in the face of the Savior; detect a gleam that gave life to His eyes and if one stared closely, one would swear the nostrils of the Savior flared as if He were breathing.

And Theos knew that when he looked at these images through his tears, they did come to life!

The eyes of Our Savior would glow with great kindness and you could see, really see, Mary’s lips form that gentle smile Theos first saw all those long years past. And They would speak to him.

He knelt before them, whom he considered his Parents, and begged forgiveness for his cowardice. He asked for the strength to proclaim himself a follower of Christ and to use his gift to proclaim to the world the greater glory of God.

Theos would later be crucified for his faith, and his shattered body buried unmourned in a shallow grave on a barren hilltop outside Rome. He was a coward no more.

And in the darkest days of Rome’s murderous persecution of Christ’s followers, those Christians that survived drew great strength from two statues that came to life amid tears of love and terror.

And the courageous band of Christians would rejoice, knowing their Savior and His Mother were alive and spoke to them through statues made by an unknown Greek sculptor who had been crucified a Christian.

The blessed hands of the sculptor of God had worked their greatest miracle.

Sugar: the sweet enemy

ONE IN FIVE FILIPINOS is overweight and one in five overweight Filipinos is obese.

This statistic from the Philippine National Nutrition Health Evaluation and Survey of 2003 seems as fantastic at first sight as it was when it was first released years ago. Obesity in the Philippines?

It becomes all the more eye-popping when one remembers that 26% of Filipinos—one in four— live below the national poverty line.

That line was P7,017 monthly for a family of five in 2009, the year of the government’s latest poverty data. It’s tougher in Metro Manila: a family of five needed to earn P8,300 a month to escape being labeled poor.

One could surmise the overweight belong to the three in four Filipinos who aren’t poor. That would seem logical.

But there are children who belong to families officially classified as poor who are overweight and obese. How does one explain that?

Fast food and junk food
The 2005 Nutritional Status for Filipino Children conducted by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute said a major reason for obesity among youngsters is their unparalleled access to cheap,widely available, high-calorie and appetizing food, otherwise known as fast food and junk food.

This is a valid reason but it still doesn’t completely answer the question: If one in four Filipinos is poor, why is one in five Filipinos overweight?

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine may shed light on a probable reason why. This study showed that poor families in Ohio that moved to lower poverty areas were less likely to become obese and less likely to have glucose levels typical of diabetes compared to families that stayed in poor neighborhoods.

Previous U.S. studies have shown that poor neighborhoods tend to lack good sources of nutritious food and this contributes to obesity and ill health in residents. That means the poor are becoming obese also by eating junk food and fast food.

Whether or not we can draw the same conclusion about poor Filipino families is debatable. But this U.S. finding is food for thought.

The sweet common link
Is there a single reason why a growing number of persons worldwide, including Filipinos, across all economic classes are becoming too fat for their own health?

Yes, there is a common link, according to Dr. Robert Lustig, Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

It’s sugar. Or, more precisely, two kinds of sugar: sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Dr. Lustig and two fellow doctors ignited a maelstrom of controversy this February by declaring that sugar and other sweeteners are poisons that should be regulated.

It’s not the first time a medical doctor has called sugar a poison but the research by Dr. Lustig and his team was so widely covered by traditional print media and on the Internet as to spark emotional debates in the medical and non-medical communities worldwide. One of the first works by a doctor calling sugar a poison dates back to 1972.

In a research paper published in the scientific journal, Nature, Dr. Lustig and his team proposed that governments levy a tax on all foods and drinks that include added sugar to discourage consumption. He called on governments worldwide to regulate soft drinks and other products with sugar as strictly as beer and alcoholic beverages.

The alcohol in beer, by the way, is made by fermenting sugar.

More controversially, Dr. Lustig asked that sales of sugar-enhanced food and drinks be banned in or near schools. He would also restrict the purchase of sugared products to a certain age limit similar to the 18-year old age limit on alcohol purchases in the USA.

Dr. Lustig loudly advocates this severe regulation of sugar because sugar is a poison in the medical sense of that term.

More specifically, Dr. Lustig and his team zeroed in on two specific types of sugars as poisons: sucrose (or table sugar) and HFCS (the most popular sweetener used in soft drinks worldwide).

He cited a widely used medical definition of a poison as any substance applied to the body, ingested or developed within the body, which causes or may cause disease.

The physical definition of a poison is any substance that inhibits the activity of a catalyst, which is a minor substance, chemical or enzyme that activates a reaction.

Based on these definitions, Dr. William Coda Martin classified refined sugar as poison in 1957 because all the vitamins, minerals, salts, fibers and proteins that make sugar useful to the body are removed during the process of sugar refining.What is left after processing is a substance full of empty calories that becomes toxic when consumed in excess.

Dr. Lustig agrees with this definition of sugar as a poison.

He does not, however, include naturally occurring sugars such as glucose in his crusade against sugar. Glucose is a sugar naturally found in all foods that have carbohydrates.

Dr. Lustig’s findings in his research paper echo his views at a symposium in 2009 entitled, Sugar: the Bitter Truth. The video of this symposium remains on YouTube and has had over two million hits.

In this video, he described glucose, which is the primary energy source for human cells, as the “energy of life.” Glucose is also known by much of the general public, especially by diabetics, as “blood sugar.”

HFCS: most dangerous of all
Soft drinks or carbonated beverages are the main sources of HFCS, the most dangerous sugar, in the diet of Filipinos or anyone else in any country where soft drinks are sold. And that’s practically all the 196 countries on Earth.

HFCS is a sweetener added to soft drinks and processed foods such as cereals, some meats, yoghurt and sauces. It’s much cheaper than sucrose and this accounts for the widespread popularity of HFCS among beverage and processed food makers.

In the USA, more than 450 calories of an American’s daily calories come from beverages and 40% from soft drinks or fruit juices.

HFCS is dangerous because it attacks the liver, said Dr. Lustig, since only the liver can metabolize fructose. He described fructose as a chronic hepatotoxin or a toxic substance that damages the liver.

“Fructose is a poison by itself,” he declared.

Among the liver's many vital functions is detoxification or the removal of toxins from the body. Fructose is metabolized by the liver unlike glucose, which is safely metabolized by cells throughout the body from complex carbohydrates.

The strain HFCS places on the liver starts a process that can lead to fatty liver disease and liver failure. The liver metabolizes fructose as a fat, hence the key role of fructose in encouraging obesity.

Dr. Lustig said 30% of fructose ends up as fat. Therefore, a high sugar diet equals a high fat diet.

“A low fat diet isn’t really low fat because the fructose/sucrose doubles as fat. That’s why diets don’t work.”

Fructose can also trigger the development of Type 2 diabetes since the high levels of sugar in the blood from un-metabolized fructose mean the pancreas has to produce more insulin, the hormone that helps control and keep stable blood sugar levels.

The increased demands on the liver caused by HFCS may ultimately lead to insulin resistance, which is the underlying cause of obesity and diabetes.

Dr. Lustig pointed out that acute fructose ingestion does not stimulate insulin to combat rising sugar levels, neither does fructose suppress the hunger hormone, ghrelin. The result is that the brain does not signal the body to stop ingesting fructose.

“Chronic fructose exposure alone causes metabolic syndrome,” said Dr. Lustig.

He described metabolic syndrome as a conglomerate of phenomena that includes obesity, Type 2 diabetes, lipid problems, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

“Fructose triggers all of these,” he said. In this sense, fructose can be considered a poison.

He also said the high level of HFCS in some infant formulas was contributing to the epidemic of overweight babies in the USA and in other countries. One infant formula (also available in the Philippines) he cited had a 10.3% sucrose content versus the 10.5% sucrose content in a leading soft drink brand.

He also said there is no difference between HFCS and sucrose or table sugar.

“They’re both really bad. They’re both dangerous. They’re both poison.”

Differences of opinion
Although Dr. Lustig’s attacks on sugar are severe, the medical community in the USA has not unanimously drawn the same conclusions, however. The jury’s still out on whether sugar really is a poison or not.

The American Medical Association in 2009 voiced the conventional wisdom by saying that high fructose corn syrup does not appear to contribute more to obesity than other caloric sweeteners.

Other skeptics say more Americans are overweight because they’re eating more. The average American’s daily caloric intake has jumped 24% since 1970. Still others say sugary beverages (not specifically HFCS) are the culprit, and whatever form the sugar is in does not matter.

Some researchers contend that saturated fat and not sugar is the basic cause of obesity and chronic disease. Still others argue that it is a lack of physical exercise.

Defenders of sucrose and HFCS say that to date, research suggests that HFCS and table sugar aren’t that different. They’re both processed sweeteners our bodies seem to treat them the same way.

Dr. Lemuel M. Tocjayao, a diabetologist and Chairman, Department of Internal Medicine at De Los Santos-STI Medical Center, believes that an excessive intake of table sugar can be toxic and can indirectly cause diabetes.

“As far as I know, there have been no extensive studies to prove sugar is toxic, especially when sugar is taken in moderation,” he said. “Sugar is only one factor in diabetes.”

He noted that the American Diabetes Association does not regulate sugar, nor has sugar been banned for diabetics.

He cautioned, however, that sugar should be taken in small amounts or just enough to sweeten your food and drink. That small amount, he said, is one teaspoon for a cup of coffee.

(Published in Enrich magazine, 2012)

Order, diplomacy and Philippine coffee

THE FACE OF PHILIPPINE DIPLOMACY is a woman who can speak her mind in seven languages. That directness is probably the German in her. Or is it the Filipino in her?

"My husband always tells me I preach like a schoolteacher," says Delia Domingo-Albert, our ambassador to Germany and one of the country's most accomplished diplomats.

Ambassador Delia Domingo Albert

Among her singular achievements: chairmanship of the United Nations Security Council during the Philippines' presidency of this body in June 2004 and Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the first woman to hold this high rank in the Philippines and in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region.

She talks about German directness and Filipino casualness in a lively tour d' horizon that focused on effective diplomacy, organic Philippine coffee as a trade tool and the changes wrought in her character by exposure to things foreign.

Her husband, by the way, is a German who loves the Philippines. They have a home in Wiesbaden where their daughter was born. She was second-in-command of the Philippine embassy (then in Bonn) for eight years.

Consequently, Ambassador Albert has a powerful interest in German culture, dotes on Maultaschen (pasta squares filled with meat and spinach) and Rote Gruetze (a pudding made from different fresh red berries, eaten with vanilla sauce) and, not unsurprisingly, is now quite German in her dedication to efficiency.

That virtue is a resounding advantage when it comes to running an embassy in a country where relentless efficiency is the norm.

"Ordnung muss sein! (There must be order)," she says in flawless German. "I run a very well organized embassy. I expect the staff to know what they are doing... I expect them to speak German and expect them to work hard.

"I am known to be very demanding, but if you look at my curriculum vitae, I have run through all the departments. That is very rare in an ambassador. I know exactly what I can expect from everyone because I have done the job myself, so I think I am reasonable (with my demands). I like efficiency. My work ethic has produced good results.

"Puenktlichkeit (punctuality) is another of my standards. My husband has taught me that it is very inconsiderate of another person to be late and I always try to be on time."

Severe as these remarks may sound to the average Pinoy, these embody qualities demanded of any professional diplomat.

Her new posting to Germany will give her ample opportunities to practice the ambassador's art in a country no longer a stranger to her.

"I feel it is important to have a focus in order to be an effective ambassador. That is the way I like to work. It is a waste of possibilities if you use your position to simply represent," she points out.

"During my appointment as second in command in the 1980s, it was relatively easy to connect Germany to Asia due to the fact that Eastern Europe was still closed. I remember Foreign Minister Hans Dieter Genscher being very pro-Asia. It will be a challenge now to enhance that connection to Asia again.

"The competition (for investments) is fiercer as Eastern Europe has been able to cater to many of Germany's needs since its opening up to the West. My focus will be on bringing the Philippines back into the picture in terms of investment opportunity and as a reliable trading partner."

Her efforts towards this end is not confined to her work in the embassy in Berlin. Diplomacy, after all, is a two-way exchange.

"I've also suggested to German Ambassador (to the Philippines) Axel Weishaupt to gather Philippine and German individuals and look at what has transpired during our 50 years of diplomatic, business and cultural relations to help identify the strong points within this relationship, and to use these findings to formulate objectives for the next 50 years to create a roadmap based on the experiences of the past," she explains.

"The Philippines and Germany have a very good relationship and I am grateful for that. Yet this needs to be translated into economic cooperation," she continues.

She points out that Philippine companies should concentrate on finding niches that can translate into mutually beneficial economic activities. She is particularly keen on seeing partnerships in environmentally acceptable or "green" processes made possible by German technology.

She admits the "lively" political situation in the Philippines poses a challenge to marketing the country in Germany. She points out, however, that all countries go through periods of change.

"I remind them that we, as a country, have already been through a lot and are still standing. The fundamental laws of democracy do exist here and are not altered.

With the embassy as the frontline in the push to sell the Philippines, Ambassador Albert aims to showcase the best of the country in all aspects. For one thing, she will introduce organically grown Philippine coffee to Germany.

"We will be serving only Philippine coffee in the embassy to make it a tradition with our guests," she notes. "I plan to have an open house one day a week where anybody can come in to the embassy. I have always done that. I want to serve Philippine coffee, maybe with moscovado and bibingka."

She recounts her experience heading our embassy in Australia. "I remember in Canberra we used to open the embassy to groups of Australian school kids and we would serve them macaroons. And I would tell them, "You must always eat macaroons because they are made from coconuts that we sell to your country."

She intends to have other items on her plate. "Another thing is Philippine tablea chocolate. My mother used to make that and I just love it! In the same way that I was able to penetrate the Australian market with Philippine mangoes, I would like to promote organically grown Philippine coffee in Germany."

Ambassador Albert comes to her new job toting one of the most formidable resumes in the Philippine diplomatic service. She speaks Filipino, English, German, French, Romanian, Spanish and Japanese. She has represented the Philippines in nine countries.

In 1992, she was awarded the Knights Commanders Cross of the Order of Merit with Star by the Federal Republic of Germany for promoting Philippine relations with Germany, as well as relations between ASEAN and the European Union. In January 2004, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo conferred on her the Order of Sikatuna, rank of Datu, for her exceptional service to the Philippines.

The Philippine Women's University in 2003 conferred on her the degree of Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa, in recognition of her contribution towards building a gender-fair society as the first woman Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines and in the ASEAN.

She returns to a Germany far different from the Cold War front line state she knew in the 1980s. She looks forward to seeing the former East Germany, especially Leipzig, Dresden and Magdeburg.

"I now have the chance to witness the impact of the unification, which I literally watched from the front row. I saw the beginnings, I witnessed the unbelievable downfall of the Berlin Wall and I know of the hopes that were attached to those events at the time. I am curious to see what has become of it.

"Berlin is an important player in Europe. It will be a challenging job and I am very much looking forward to rediscover this country that I have only known as a divided country," she notes.

A career diplomat, Ambassador Albert has discovered that it does help kindle your professionalism if you love your job. "I've always wanted to become a diplomat. I've always loved history and I like to travel. It was the perfect match for me," she explains.

(Published in Starweek Magazine of The Philippine Star, Sept. 11, 2005)

Debris: The Great War 100 years hence

IT WAS FIRST called The Great War, and it was indeed the greatest war the world had yet seen until that time.

It involved the British, French, German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian empires, and the republican but colonialist United States of America. Through a series of alliances, these Great Powers created a balance of power that held the destiny of the world in their hands at the start of the 20th Century.

It was then called The World War. This war, however, was later depicted to some of the peoples of these empires as “The War to End All Wars” in propaganda aimed at stoking both patriotism and idealism. Four years of incredibly lavish blood-letting never before seen in 5,000 years of recorded history led to the deaths of over 21 million soldiers and civilians in a totally misguided and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to bring about Peace through War.

It was also described as the world’s first “Industrial War;” the world’s first “Technology War” and the world’s first “Propaganda War.”

This war of many inhuman firsts—World War I— marks the 100th Anniversary of its outbreak this year, 2014.

European empires before World War I.

No nation, least of all those who fought in this tragic conflict, will celebrate a war that mass-produced mass murder; became a universal symbol of military incompetence and callousness, and introduced into the world the first of those man-made killing agents widely known today as “Weapons of Mass Destruction” or WMDs.

The world’s first WMD was poison gas. This new weapon of war was first unleashed in 1915 on French soldiers on the Western Front in Belgium. Poison gas killed 90,000 soldiers and crippled 1.3 million others on both sides during this war. Most of the poison gas victims were French and British fighting men.

This explains the great aversion to poison gas shown today by France, Britain and the USA—and their willingness to use military force to prevent the renewed use of poison gas. Their distaste was made manifest during the poison gas attacks by the Syrian government in August 2013.

British Tommies, victims of a German poison gas attack.

Such were the many horrible firsts introduced into a peaceful world by The First World War. This Great War or The World War or The War to End All Wars was only widely referred to as World War I after its far more terrible child, World War II, engulfed Europe then the world from 1939 to 1945.

Instead of a 100th anniversary celebration, however, the world will remember the tens of millions of victims of a war that gave birth to the chaotic world we live in today—a world in which military power is at its greatest height.

We, all of us, are debris of The First World War.

The road to world war
The date of the many commemorations of 1914 will vary according to country, but will begin in present day Bosnia. The Great War began in Bosnia on June 28, 1914. On this fateful day in the city of Sarajevo in Bosnia (then a part of the Kingdom of Serbia), a young Bosnian Serb student named Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary.

This assassination, which also saw the murder of the Archduke’s wife, ignited a diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered to Serbia an ultimatum ordering compliance with a set of 10 harsh demands. Austria-Hungary had intentionally made the ultimatum unacceptable; its real intent was to provoke a war with Serbia.

Frantic to avoid war with an empire, Serbia met eight of the 10 demands. Austria-Hungary, nevertheless, declared war on Serbia on July 28 and bombarded Serbia this same day as a prelude to an invasion. These were the first shots of what would become The First World War only six day later.

This war, however, would have remained just another local war. It would have been confined to the Balkans, “the powder keg of Europe” and the most probable flash point for any European war. It would have, were it not for the two mutually distrustful alliances whose massive armies were poised for war at a moment’s notice.

The major protagonists: the British Tommy, French poilu, German landser and  Russian muzhik.

These two alliances split Europe: the Triple Entente consisted of the French empire, the British Empire and the Russian Empire while the Triple Alliance or the Central Powers comprised the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

The Russian Empire, which considered itself ruler of the Slav peoples including the Serbs, partially mobilized its massive armed forces on July 29 to deter Austria-Hungary from, further aggression. The German Empire mobilized against Russia on July 30 in fulfillment of its military obligations to Austria-Hungary.

Refusing to immediately mobilize in the west to counter the German mobilization, the French were finally forced to do so on August 2 when Germany invaded neutral Belgium and attacked French troops. Germany’s immediate strategic aim, which was detailed in the Schlieffen Plan, was to speedily defeat France before turning east to destroy Russia. Germany failed and the stage was set for four years of the most terrible warfare yet witnessed.

Germany declared war on Russia on August 1 and on France on August 2. The British Empire—the world’s largest—declared war on Germany on August 4. The British declaration of war immediately transformed a local conflict in the Balkans into an international conflagration thereafter called The First World War. Europe had blundered into war.

It is a war defined by horrible images seared into mankind’s shared consciousness: brave young men suicidally charging machine guns; the endless lines of trenches on the Western Front resembling open graves; the brutal winters in Russia freezing men to death by the thousands and the unimaginably horrific artillery barrages lasting up to a week on the Western Front that either blasted soldiers to bits or buried them alive in their trenches.

Landsern on the Western Front take a respite from battle.

Remembrance
A hundred years on and the hatreds that once divided Europe are today dimly remembered. In place of imperial alliances has appeared the New Europe in the form of the 28-nation European Union or the EU. There has been no Great War in Europe since 1945, an unbroken span of 68 years, and the longest period in modern European history without a war involving Europe’s major powers. The EU is achieving its aim of banishing war as an instrument of national policy.

It is in the spirit of this peaceful New Europe that commemorations of The First World War will together involve the countries that took part in this war. In April 2013, France and Germany—the bitterest of foes in the 19th and 20th centuries—agreed to finance events that will commemorate rather than celebrate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I. Both countries will do so until June 2014 in Sarajevo, capital of the present-day state of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Bosnia-Herzegovina announced the creation of an endowment for First World War centenary remembrance plans called "Sarajevo-Heart of Europe.” The central commemoration of the 100th anniversary will be a concert to be played by the Vienna Philharmonic on June 28 in Sarajevo.

It is ironic and a welcome sign of the demise of past national animosities that Austrians, whose ancestors ignited the First World War, will hold a concert in Sarajevo, the place where the war began, for Bosnians whom they attacked at the start of the war. A series of concerts will also be held throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina before that ceremony.

Poilus assault the German trenches. The man in the foreground has just been shot.

A quiet commemoration
Besides this joint commemoration in Sarajevo, however, it seems Germany would rather not remember the past but instead wants to focus on the future of the EU that it helped create in 1993.

“For us, it is about remembrance and reconciliation, and trying to learn lessons,” an officer from Germany’s embassy in the UK was quoted as saying. He said German commemorations of the First World War will focus on how the EU has brought European nations closer together.

The French also seem to want a quiet remembrance of the First World War. What they’ve so far announced is that France will carry out a policy of national remembrance. But in many of France’s cities, towns and villages where “La Premiere Guerre Mondiale” or “La Grande Guerre” or "La Guerre du Droit" (The War for Justice) are routinely commemorated every year, this policy of national remembrance in 2014 will certainly add to the patriotic fervor.

Celebrating victory
The United Kingdom, on the other hand, will salute its heroes very loudly. It will hold a series of national remembrance events for its First World War Centenary. These events will consist of an extensive cultural program and educational scheme to commemorate what it likes to refer to as The Great War.

The last two British soldiers who served in the Great War died in July 2009 within one week of each other. The last British soldier from The Great War was Harry Patch. Before he died at 111 years-old, Patch spent his last years urging his friends and admirers never to forget the millions of men on both sides who gave their lives during The Great War.

Battlefield in northern France.

"War isn't worth one life," said Patch, who was wounded and traumatized for life by the inhuman horror and carnage he experienced at the Battle of Passchendaele fought from June to November 1917. Passchendaele, the bloodiest British battle in The Great War, ended in a British defeat.

The British suffered over 500,000 casualties in a battle where men drowned in mud caused by unrelenting rains or were cut down in droves by German machine guns. The battle has become synonymous with the stupidity and heartlessness of the British generals who went through with the battle despite warnings to the contrary. The British soldiers were truly “Lions led by donkeys.” For the Germans, however, their victory despite being heavily outnumbered helped prevent the ultimate collapse of their Western Front.

Condemning the flawed British plans that led to the tremendous slaughter of British infantry, David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister from 1916 to 1922, said this of the Battle of Passchendaele in 1938: “Passchendaele was indeed one of the greatest disasters of the war . . . No soldier of any intelligence now defends this senseless campaign . . . ."

Tommies attack amid poison gas.

Russia remembers
But there will not be a grand commemoration of The Great War in Russia despite Russia’s key role in the defeat of the Central Powers. For over three years, the pathetically armed and badly led Russian armies unselfishly sacrificed themselves for their Western Allies. Their offensives saved France and Britain from early defeat by Germany and kept over half the mighty German Army on the eastern front.

The efficient Germans inflicted colossal defeats on the ill-trained Russians, eventually forcing Russia to surrender in March 1918 and quit the war. But it was a costly victory for Germany; over half of all German casualties in The Great War were inflicted by the Russians.

It is this bitter defeat in 1918 that has made the “Second Patriotic War,” as the Russian’s call The Great War, a source of shame and forgetting. As a general rule, the Russians never commemorate the war. Two million Russian soldiers died for their country but to this day, no national monuments worthy of the memory of her heroes or the other victims of the Second Patriotic War have been built in Russia. The Second Patriotic War is truly Russia’s “Forgotten War.”

But Russia now belatedly remembers her dishonored heroes. The Organizing Committee for the 100th Anniversary of World War I is now in the process of erecting a monument honoring Russia’s forgotten heroes on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow. Russia also plans to take part in international events dedicated to commemorating the 100th anniversary of The Great War.

Muzhiks on the march.

The world forgets
It will be extremely difficult to awaken the world to an event, however shattering, that occurred in a dimly lit past. One barrier to any widespread remembrance of World War I is World War II. This far deadlier and more recent war is favorite fare on TV, the movies, YouTube and the Internet.

The powerful images of goose-stepping Nazis, massive Tiger tanks and Adolf Hitler haranguing adoring multitudes imprint the Second World War more easily on younger minds than does the First World War, which seems to be a “Grandfather’s War” fought in grainy black and white videos.

Remember, however, that the Second World War is also seen as a continuation of the First World War. German grievances over the harsh terms imposed by the victors that impoverished Germany, and the murderous effects of the worldwide economic depression of 1929 on the German people, gave rise to right wing groups promising to restore German pride and prosperity.

Among these fringe right wing cabals advocating Germany’s return to power was the “Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei.” This motley crew of misfits in 1919 welcomed into its ranks as its 55th member an obscure but decorated World War I veteran named Adolf Hitler. It took 14 years for Hitler and his Nazis to seize control of the Germany and six more years to plunge the world into a far more ghastly world war.

But both the First and the Second World Wars took place in the 20th century, the most violent century in human history. Happily, that century is over. And it is a remote possibility that a Third World War will consume the world in the first half of the 21st Century.

Wars are now “local” but must be condemned for their wanton destruction of human life. Peace is always preferable to war. That is the eternal lesson of The First World War the world chooses to forget.

(Published in the January 2014 issue of  Enrich, magazine of Mercury Drug Corporation)