The World Health Day which was celebrated worldwide on Monday, 7th of April may have come and gone but issues making up the reason for the setting aside of a day for its commemoration would always remain. Like other society-helping holidays, the World Health Day is aimed at informing people with information about the increasing threat of killer-diseases, amongst other reasons.
There is no doubt in the fact that the evolution of civilization and the abuse of certain healthy habits has given rise to the invasion of danger disease worldwide. HIV/AIDs, Tuberculosis, Cancer and Malaria are four of the world’s deadliest diseases. Together, they sicken and kill many, mostly in poor developing parts of the world. They also take a heavy toll on young people; keeping workers out of their jobs.
Many international organizations are focused on fighting these diseases which affects at least, one in three people around the world and causes the workforce of an economy to dwindle. It is amazing however that the number of physicians and the proliferation of drugs and medication has not helped in curbing the scourge of killer-diseases. Malaria has now become a monthly illness treated by some in many places of the world. The same goes for typhoid and other diseases whose treatment costs a fortune.
In this era of economic instability which has affected the standard of living and the cost of maintaining health, many of the world’s population have resorted to the traditional treatment of taking herbs which sometimes generates a bigger problem. Pregnant women have taken to traditional birth attendants and prayer houses, and those with dangerous diseases have reclined to the mercy of herbalists who concoct mixtures with no validity or expiring date.
This challenge which has become the order of the day has also seen people taking to self-medication. People patronize the pharmacies and chemists more than medical centres because of an acclaimed cure they got from an initial usage of it. Should these people be blamed for this? The cost of getting good medical attention today is equal to a bread winner’s take-home at the end of the month and so, the scourge continues, it has become so bad that a lot of sick people go about their daily activities with the consciousness of their sickness and a blind hope that they will be healed somehow, magically or ‘like that’ since they cannot afford to go to the hospital. And even when they go to the hospital, a lot of people have complained about the re-occurrence of a disease or illness they treated very recently.
With this, in mind, the World Health Organization should focus on educating medical practitioners and health care givers of the innovations and improvisions in the health world. The administration of drugs used in the 90s like the Amalar and Halfan for the treatment of malaria, and ‘pink and black capsule’ for treatment of typhoid is obsolete. Things have longed changed and science has been at the fore. Some blood tonics and capsules are no longer as active in the human body as they used to be in the past. The days of Phensic and Darga, ‘after five and laila’ are long gone. The same goes for the immunization given to children. It would be recalled that in years back, immunization was given to children once or twice a year, but today, over five immunizations have been given to children in Akwa Ibom state within four months and one wonders how many more are coming, and how active they are. This is because children still dominate many hospital wards in several hospitals state-wide.
To this end, the WHO should seek means on how to re-enlighten medical practitioners on the on-goings in their field. This re-enlightenment should include training and re-training them on innovations, trends and up-comings, research and excursions, examinations and assessment of their ability to grasp these changes, as well as their ability to relate with their sick. It has been observed that most deaths occurring in hospitals are caused not only by ineffective drugs but the Doctor/Nurse’s inability to build a good rapport with his/her patient.
Though, it will take a lot of resources to effectively treat people as well as educate and create an awareness of new trends in medicine, the health of an economy cannot be overlooked. No country or nation with a bunch of sicklers will fare well because health cannot be taken away from the road to making wealth.
If the WHO, the government, and other appropriate agencies will work with the different tools of mass communication to ensure the success of this creed, the health sector will be one of the uncommonly transformed sector, yielding uncommon benefits to citizens. The government can then take good and affordable health to people’s doorsteps, beginning with the endorsement of outlets with medical personnel as it is done during the polio vaccination exercise. Such door-to-door approach will go a long way in improving public health as well as reducing the spread of killer diseases.
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