Education (not) compulsory

If the government needed any proof that health education is an absolute necessity and not a fad, it was provided by the results of the just-published Eurobarometer, which show that - to put it extremely mildly - we are not very educated. Not only on health issues, of course. Gaps in knowledge are elementary. Every third Pole is of the opinion that humans lived in the same times as dinosaurs, and malicious people are already commenting that such a state of knowledge does not close the way to a career, not only at the national level, but also at the European level), although the information that this was not the case has been provided for decades both by school - in lessons on nature and geography - and coloring books and children's books (it is well known that the level of knowledge of four or five-year-olds about dinosaurs significantly exceeds the resources of the average Kowalski, unless Kowalski is a paleontologist).

However, let's put the stone-throwing dinosaurs aside. Four out of ten Poles do not recognize the theory of evolution. It's hard to say that they don't believe in it - after all, it's not a question of belief, but of knowledge. The authors of the survey did not check the views on the sphericity of the Earth (perhaps a good thing), but it can be assumed that those who do not recognize it and are convinced that our planet is as flat as a pancake and does not rotate after all, are also quite a lot.

The level of knowledge in the area of health issues is strikingly low, and it has to be superimposed on it a tendency to indulge in conspiracy theories (seventh place in the EU!) and distrust of scientists. The results of the Eurobarometer give a powerful impetus to the discussion around the question "why don't Poles vaccinate?", and are also part of the debate on the popularity of so-called alternative, holistic or independent medicine.

It is difficult to analyze them without the bitter conundrum that those in power are throwing the towel in the ring and surrendering the fight against charlatans, giving up - in the name of (dubious) political gains - compulsory health education in schools. If adults are already tainted by a lack of knowledge and trust in science, the least that could be done would be to save children and young people. Otherwise - the state is exposing the generation about to enter adulthood to double contamination. Intentional (on the part of those who spread disinformation) and involuntary, on the part of those closest to them. What a shell soaks in its youth... and it soaks in the belief in antibiotics as a panacea, in conspiracies to block access to cancer drugs (in someone's "commercial" interest) and in the fact that the government plans to strike freedom with viruses.

Such is the climate we have... Nota bene, we hold the record for skepticism when it comes to human impact on climate change. Also strongly affecting public health.