IN recent years, we are confronted by numerous diseases such as cancer, sugar diabetes and hypertension among others because we eat unhealthy foods and lead unhealthy lifestyles without enough activity or body exercise.

All of these diseases have become so common in Lesotho and beg the question: where did we go wrong?

Basotho used to take care of their bodies with the kind of food they ate and natural remedies to treat their ailments. But civilisation has brought with it a lot of ignorance, making people think they live in comfort yet they are dying slowly.

We have violated natural ways of living on organic foods and are much dependent on man-made imported food that is not only genetically modified but harmful to our bodies.

The symptoms of disease such as pain, fever and inflammation, which are nature’s way of showing we are getting better have become an end in themselves such that we are dependent on laboratory medicines to get a cure.

Lesotho is losing hundreds of lives each year and this often happens after a lot of millions of maloti have been paid to treat patients; many of whom have been sick due to bad eating habits.

This week, chocolate imported from our neighbour South Africa was removed from the shelves for fear of it being contaminated. Who knows how many have already consumed it? Why does anyone have to eat chocolate anyway? What are its health benefits?

In 2018, Lesotho was among countries that imported sausages from South Africa but were later banned because of the listeriosis outbreak. Why do we have to eat Rainbow Chicken when we have enough land to keep free ranging chickens?

In fact, chicken business is a great business opportunity but we are so dependent on the neighbour for almost everything. We think eating imported sausages and deep frozen meat and chicken products is progressive when actually it is deep rooted barbarism as it inflicts poison to our bodies.

It is time we did away with tinned food and went back to our roots. Cancer, HIV, sugar diabetes, Covid-19 and the rest of the diseases are a sign that medical science advances have failed as the more antibiotic resistant the various new strains of diseases become.