Andy- I find this really interesting. As a public servent myself- in health funding -I can understand your frustration. They will have labeled you a crank! I am English too (emigrated in 1976 but still feel English). Government policy makers ( like me!! are not able to do the research themselves, they are administrators not clinicians. They (we!) are not experts in health only in health services admin. therefore must depend on experts in the field and so will always adopt the accepted theory. I think this is realistic- how could a bunch of bureaucrats make their own decisions on optimal health practices? So it is the clinicians that need convincing before government will accept the practice. I expect we in NZ are a party to the protocol you mention but I will ask my daughter to find out- she is a NZ diplomat so should be able to discover the relevant papers.