​Inspired by one of the most successful grassroots healthcare innovations in history, the BeT Barefoot Doctor program revives and modernizes a model once endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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Historical Foundation: The Chinese Barefoot Doctors
In the 1960s, rural China faced a profound shortage of doctors. To address this, China trained thousands of farmers and villagers in basic medicine, acupuncture, hygiene, childbirth, and disease prevention. These "Barefoot Doctors" worked in the fields by day and delivered primary healthcare by night. With just months of training, they became trusted caregivers in the most underserved communities.
Their success in reducing mortality and improving rural health outcomes was so dramatic that in 1978, at the Alma-Ata International Conference on Primary Health Care, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recognized the Barefoot Doctor model as a global example of how community-based health workers could provide essential, lifesaving care at low cost and massive scale.
BeT Barefoot Doctors:
A Modern Evolution Today, we face a different war: the escalating global opioid crisis. Peer support workers, TCM practitioners, acupuncturists, and addiction counselors are on the front lines. Yet many lack access to immediate, drug-free tools that can help reduce withdrawal symptoms, pain, and relapse.
Bio-electrode Therapy (BeT) is a breakthrough, non-pharmacological approach that uses dissimilar metal electrodes (copper and silver) placed on acupuncture points to restore natural microcurrents and the electrical field (our biofield) to relieve suffering. It is:
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Low-cost and portable
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Non-invasive
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Easy to learn and safe to apply​​
With minimal training, community workers can be taught to deliver BeT using a standardized kit and set of protocols. These BeT Barefoot Doctors don’t replace formal treatment programs, they extend and empower them, reaching people where they are, when they need it most.
Impact Potential Just as the original Barefoot Doctors brought care to the countryside, BeT Barefoot Doctors can bring relief, stabilization, and empowerment to those caught in cycles of addiction and despair.
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Provide opioid withdrawal and craving relief in minutes
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Reduce reliance on emergency rooms and detox beds
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Empower recovering individuals to help others
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Strengthen frontline responses in underserved and rural areas
A Call to Action
With the right support, training, and distribution, the BeT Barefoot Doctor model can scale globally. It has the potential to save lives, reduce suffering, and build resilience through one of the most accessible therapeutic innovations of our time.
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"The revolution in healing won't come from above. It will come from people helping people, one set of hands at a time."
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This project will require efforts internationally from the TCM community, addiction and healthcare professionals, peer support workers, parents, and assistance from experts in non-profit administration. I welcome anyone with an interest and desire for real change in the way we treat this crisis.
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Contact Les Moncrieff R. Ac.