Human rights activist, environmentalist and alternative medicine proponent Juan Almendares stressed the importance of improving public health in Honduras and other Central American countries Wednesday to an audience at the University of Wisconsin.

“Public medicine and public health are so political. We have to learn that. There is no other way to transform,” Almendares said.

Almendares, a native of Honduras, spoke about his human rights and environmental experiences with students, faculty and the public at the Health Sciences Learning Center as part of the UW’s Global Health Seminar Series.

Almendares said he was a torture victim as a child and witnessed firsthand the harsh treatment of men, women and children in his home country. He added alcoholism, prostitution and violence were all part of his Honduran community, and these experiences shaped his approach to human rights issues.

“We have to unite all the efforts to change,” Almendares said, expressing gratitude for the city of Madison’s progressive attitude and enthusiasm for change.

Almendares also said he was optimistic Obama would be a catalyst for advancing human rights in Third World countries.

“We have hope with Obama, of course, but one man cannot change the system,” Almendares said. “We need to change the system in order to achieve what we want.”

Almendares is also an alternative medicine practitioner and was one of the few Hondurans to embrace the non-Western model of medicine.

Alternative medicine was not widely accepted in Honduras, Almendares said, so he worked in a “clandestine way” on the streets and without a clinic.

According to Almendares, both alternative and orthodox medicine have places in society, and the key is bridging the gap between the two.

“I have been a rebel all the time,” Almendares said. “My degree is not in public health, but all I have done is in public health.”

Through his clinical work, Almendares treated miners suffering from the effects of Honduran mines and became an environmental advocate, working to expel mining companies from the country. He said because of mines, Honduras has problems with deforestation and water.

Almendares went on to say human rights, the environment and public health are all interrelated and all require political action.

“Human rights have been considered as individual,” Almendares said. “We have to understand the human rights of the communities. We have to understand the human rights of the countries.”

Sarah Khan, an assistant scientist in the School of Medicine and Public Health, said Juan Almendares’ work on biocultural diversity, public health, human rights and its relation to alternative medicine has been an inspiration to her.

“I very much appreciate and value his input and use him as a model for myself in the back of my head doing any type of work, thinking of his work and his approach,” Khan said.

Overall, Almendares said the key to his work is passion.

“I get too apasionado,” he said. “It’s very important to have passion. Emotions are fundamental.”