Patch Adams: Bush 'fascist'

2005-08-14 12:27

Lima - A US doctor known for his signature use of "laughter therapy" and social activism used his acceptance speech for a health care award to blast President George Bush and materialism in society.

Dr Hunter "Patch" Adams, who was the inspiration for the 1998 movie starring Robin Williams, was awarded the first ever Excellence in Health Care Prize presented by the Lima-based Global Organisation for Excellence in Health.

The organisation is sponsoring an international health care conference in Lima next week.

Adams, 60, with a gray waist-length ponytail streaked blue, expressed "shame for our fascist president," referring to Bush, and told reporters that the only way global health will improve is if "we stop worshipping money."

Adams expressed his disgust with war in Iraq, offering his sympathy for the "unfortunate soldiers who are serving corporations" there.

"Excellence in health means devoting your life to ending poverty," said Adams who has worked as a physician for 35 years.

"My work is to end violence, and to bring harmony to people," Adams said, repeatedly expressing his repulsion for society's preoccupation with "superficial" concerns, like "sports and Paris Hilton" hotel heiress and reality series star.

"It's humiliating that a person who kicks a ball makes more money than a school teacher," Adams said.

Adams was wrapping up a five-week trip to Peru - his third in the past three years - during which he travelled to the northern Amazon city of Iquitos, where he visited prisons, orphanages and Aids clinics.

"They had every reason to be sad and angry, yet people were instantly friendly, engaging and giving," said Adams who has visited many poverty-stricken or war-affected areas throughout the world.

- AP