In the early 1990s, medical freedom was being threatened by the FDA, by powerful allopathic medical organizations like the American Medical Association (AMA), by insurance companies, and by state medical boards around the country. Good doctors were losing their licenses or being driven into bankruptcy simply because they used an unconventional, holistic approach to preventing disease and optimizing health.
Advancements in medicine were being stymied because good practitioners were afraid of censure. Americans had no access to some of the most cutting-edge medical therapies and technologies available in other countries, while medical costs were spiraling out of control, spurred on by the explosion in pharmaceutical, surgical, and chemotherapy treatments, many of them based on doubtful science and not even effective, despite their high cost.
In 1992, this small group began advocating for holistic health practitioners and consumers on Capitol Hill, in state legislatures, in the courts, and with the media. We called ourselves the American Preventive Medical Association (APMA) to reflect our belief that truly preventive medicine focuses on maintaining optimal health with healthy food, key nutraceuticals and dietary supplements, exercise, and complementary medical therapies.
By 2004, we changed our name to the American Association for Health Freedom. At about the same time, we met the folks at the Alliance for Natural Health, a UK-based organization that seemed to agree with us on just about everything. Their work in Europe since 2002 paralleled the work we were doing in the United States, and we benefited from sharing information and ideas with each other. In December of 2009, the two organizations decided to take our relationship to the next level by becoming the Alliance for Natural Health Europe and the Alliance for Natural Health USA, within the Alliance for Natural Health International.
Since 2009, ANH has been part of an international organization working to change the way that medicine is practiced globally. We are driven by the desire to shift consciousness toward a better understanding of how our connection to nature is intimately connected to our health. Through our extensive grassroots network we have won a number of key battles.
The freedoms we enjoy today are the direct result of the actions of activists like you. We will continue to work tirelessly to protect and promote natural health and freedom of choice in healthcare. As the crisis in conventional healthcare becomes increasingly evident to everyone, we have a unique opportunity to bring the word about sustainable and effective natural health options to millions of people around the world as well as our leaders at the local, state, and federal levels.