Exactly a fortnight ago, l went to a private hospital in Port Harcourt. At the entrance, I saw a miserable old woman crying to God on her knees and periodically rolling on the ground, while her son was in a ambulance, about to be taken to the hospitals other facility for MRI and other tests.
The woman's agony broke my heart, and I couldn't withhold my tears. So l went to one of the senior doctors and asked about the patient's condition. I was told that he is unconscious, and that he is bleeding in the head - induced by hypertension.
I asked if he'd survive, and the doctor said, "it is a bad case, but we expect him to pull through". I sat there for a while, crying and praying. By the end of the day, the private hospital had already spent over N700,000 - that was on a Monday. They were doing everything within their power and expertise, because they were anticipative of his recovery. I learnt that he is a middle-class employee of an oil company - the breadwinner of his family.
However, because it was a private medical enterprise, and the family couldn't afford the treatment, the doctors had to choice but to refer the patient to government hospital on Wednesday. Though the doctors were emotional about the patient and monitored him, they were concerned about the quality of ATTENTION he was getting in the government hospital. I kept following up as well.
By Friday evening, when l went to meet the doctors, I was told that the young man died in the morning.
At that point my heart broke as l remembered the agony of the mother. I imagine how she must have laboured with pregnancy anticipating his birth. I thought of how that poor woman may have suffered to help him through school. I wondered what a breakthrough his subsequent employment would have been as he starts taking care of his poor mother. I imagined the despondency and discombobulation of that crying mother. I started wondering about her fate:
Where is she?
Who's responsibility will she be?
What would she be living for?
And many more rhetorical QUESTIONS. I was so depressed that l felt my heart contracting. And all I could say was, "O' Lord, be there for her!". Then, I turned to the doctors and asked, "would he have died in your facility?", and he responded, "It was a bad case, but not likely. He definitely would not have died now".
That young man was hypertensive, but he didn't know until it got fatal, and despite his middle-class employment, he couldn't afford treatment.
Remembering my friend whose Hearing Aid was funded by a Provincial (State)Government in South Africa, further remembering my friend, whose Brain Tumour Surgery bills were paid by a Provincial Government in South Africa, I wondered how many Kalabari, Ikwerri, Ogoni, Okrika (and etc) men, women, boys and girls are out there not knowing what is happening to and in their bodies, and definitely have no financial means to cater for their health.
You reading this post, can you be so sure of how healthy you are?
Do you have money to afford SERIOUS Health PROBLEMS?
You and I know that at a certain level in POLITICS, the Government of the day will take care of its kitchen cabinet, and kitchen cabinet only. Are you in that kitchen cabinet, and would you always be there?
Go to Ifoko, Sangama, Oproama, Kono, Aluu, Ndele and other rural enclaves, and ask what their medical fate is.
Which aspect of your HEALTH is the RESPONSIBILITY of the State Government, and which aspect is the RESPONSIBILITY of the Federal Government - what about the Local Government?
Is it about awarding contracts to build new hospitals?
Is it about engaging the Medical Doctors that graduate yearly?
Is it about international medical correspondences and research cooperations?
The difference between our Society and SERIOUS Societies such as South Africa, UK, USA, Canada and Australia is PUBLIC POLICY.
Year after Year, what is your Government's plan for you?
Until you know and evaluate the BUDGET, you don't know Government's plan for you.
Have you appraised your Government's BUDGET for 2018?
Is the BUDGET considerate of your peculiar condition?
How does the BUDGET relate to you as an individual?
Don't sing a song that doesn't concern you. Political Parties are not Football Clubs of which you may be a fan. Political Parties should determine Public Policy.
What do you understand by the term, PUBLIC POLICY?
Don't ANSWER. First Google it, read it, understand what you've read, and ANSWER if you may.
#DodMan
#FreeRivers
