The book Things Fall
Apart never ceases to fascinate me. It illuminates a society that is bound
together by cultural strands, existing in peace and serenity with one another,
sharing their all but unfortunately begins to disintegrate the day their
existence is threatened from the outside. I don’t intend to talk about the Igbo
people today but I only want to allude to something interesting in this book. The
important line I particularly wanted to borrow from Achebe’s book was one said
by Okonkwo’s father after one of his many debtors around came to demand for his
money from him. Amidst long bouts of laughter he said “the sun will shine on
those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them”, implying that
he would pay his big debts first and pay the small ones later.
Yesterday, the
Association of medical doctors declared a strike in all public hospitals around
the country, saying they would not attend to any patient, save for the
emergencies. They accuse the government of neglecting them and not enhancing
their salaries plus subjecting them to very poor working conditions. The government
on the other hand argues that they have more pressing issues and the doctors
should wait “for the sun to shine on those standing before it comes to them who
are kneeling”. We may talk about this causally but it is not until you come
face to face with the reality that you know of how grave the situation is. I watched
in horror and with so much pain the sullen faces of patients at the Iganga
hospital who had turned up to get treatment only to be find no one to attend to
them. For me it is more depressing because coincidentally it is the same day my
cousin lost her baby because she was waiting for a doctor to carry out a cesarean
operation but because of his absence, we had to rush her to a nearby private hospital
atleast to save her life. It is more distressing for many who are never lucky
to save the lives of their loved ones. Thousands and perhaps millions have
fallen at the hands of a putrid health system, one that gets worse every day
that goes by.
The bigger question however
in this is whether there is any justification for the actions of the doctors? For
purposes of being fair to both sides we need to take a look at both extremes. On
one end we have one person who has beaten all the odds to go through medical
school, read hard to achieve his dream, only to receive peanuts and work in agonizing
situations. The ratio of doctors to patients is 1:24,000 yet World Health Organisation
recommends a ratio of 1:600, still these are paid a paltry 1 million to 3
million depending on the qualification. When they draw comparison with another
class of people whom they think they are more qualified than (and obviously so)
and yet are ripping millions of shillings, their hearts become heavy! They can’t
stand it, and it is this that drives them to demand for more. On another
stretch we have people who probably can’t bear the expense of even the cheapest
drug in the pharmacy, cannot afford to put a meal on their tables and generally
have no hope for the next day. In the middle we have a government gazing at the
two with none’s priorities in mind. Who then is not meeting their end of the
bargain?
The government has an obligation
towards its citizens in regard to fulfillment of rights and duties. It has a
duty to respect, protect, promote and fulfill these rights. More to this are the
minimum core obligations that ensure the state creates satisfaction of minimum
essentials of any right. To this end it does not require that the government
does all this at ago but can progressively realise the right to health. The statistics
are damning, World Health Organisation ranks us the 186th out of 191
nations in terms of healthcare performance, one in every 200 births ends a
mother’s life, around 1 million people are living with HIV, 51% of the people
don’t have any contact whatsoever with public healthcare facilities. This is an
indictment on the health system of a country; it is simply a vote of no
confidence to the sitting government. They can concede that they have absconded
on their duty and therefore should concede failure. But again what country in
the world completely cedes its health sector to private individuals? There is
none I have heard of and it is not an option we can explore.
I think we need to
begin getting our priorities right. One of the arguments fronted by the doctors
was that if the government can in a blink of an eye raise 13 billion to send
members of Parliament out to consult on the obvious then why can’t the same
government find money to give them a good pay. It is a valid argument because
then we begin to think that instead of protecting its people the government
intends to kill its own citizens. What do you think will happen when patients
cannot find a doctor for days, weeks or even months? Their heartbeat will sadly
stop!
