The President of Ghana, John Evans Atta Mills, should disclose the state of his health, Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy, a medical doctor and lecturer at the University of Cape Coast Medical School, has said.
The Ghanaian leader flew to the United States on Saturday night for what he called “routine medical check-up.”
Dr. Kennedy told The Globe newspaper in an interview that there “is too much secrecy around the President’s state of health” and asked the President to draw inspiration from the USA where issues about the health conditions of leaders are not classified.
“The health care of our leaders is always shrouded in secrecy,” he said. “This trend is not helpful and must change.”
“I have lived and worked where the President’s medical condition is not a secret. Whenever he has his medical report, whatever the doctors said becomes public. Again, when they are having surgery we know what is it that they having surgery for. I think that kind of openness will benefit us,” the US-trained Medical Doctor said.
President Mills has not been seen for more than a week, prompting speculations that he may be critically ill. The speculations were fueled by the President’s silence in the face of recurrent pockets of communal violence in the country.
The rumors peaked on Saturday morning when Social media websites like facebook and Twitter were buzzing with claims that the President had died. The claims prompted an angry response from the aides to the Ghanaian leader who called the rumors “stupid and wicked.”
Last week’s widespread speculations are similar to those that preceded the 2008 national elections, when Mills flew to South Africa for medical care. At a press conference before his departure to the United States on Saturday, President Mills dismissed reports of his death and announced that he was heading to an undisclosed hospital in America for “routine medical check-up.”
Dr Kennedy told The Globe that the President’s decision to seek medical checkup abroad “is not only unfortunate” but shows a clear “vote of no confidence in local medical facilities.” “I am disappointed by the phenomena of all our leaders flying to seek healthcare abroad,” he said. “It would appear that they do not have confidence in the very system that they themselves brag about improving all the time. Over the years a lot of our leaders have ended up getting care abroad and sometimes, God forbid, dying there.”
But, while questioning the wisdom in the President’s medical trip to the United States, Dr Kennedy was quick to say that there may be good reason why the former law lecturer chose to seek medical attention outside the country. “It depends on the specific circumstances of his condition,” he said. “Since we are not told what his condition is it is difficult to make a judgment about whether based on his specific condition he needs to get care abroad.”
Dr Kennedy said the recurrent rumors about the President’s condition were self-inflicted, insisting that it was time the Ghanaian leader opened up. “I certainly wish the President well and I hope that he recovers quickly and comes back to perform his functions. But I think some candor on his side will make things easier and it will let the public understand him better,” he said. “I deal with illness all the time. None of us are immune to illness and, naturally, if somebody is not well we should have sympathy and wish the person well, but I think getting more information will make it easier to get that kind of public sympathy.”
“There were a lot of people who, during the last week, were complaining that the President had not done anything while Hohoe and the Central Region and all these places were burning. It might be that he was not well and if he was not well it would have served him well if he came and let us know that he was not well,” he added. Asked if the President was not entitled to privacy over his state of health, Dr Kennedy said. “I think you can argue it both ways. The President like everybody else is entitled to some privacy. But where his healthcare infringes on his effectiveness or his ability to discharge the functions of his office, I think the public is entitled to some information so that they can make some reasonable judgment. “In the United States there is now a constitutional amendment where if some designated official thinks that the President is unable to perform the functions of his office they could for example ask for an evaluation and there is a process for declaring that he will be unable to perform the functions of his office. We are not there yet but having said that some level of voluntary disclosure will reduce the rumors that we are used to hearing.”
Past media reports say President Mills has a throat problem for which he sought medical attention in South Africa a number of times. It is not known if his United States trip has something to do with his alleged throat problems, but Dr Kennedy said, “If his throat is the problem then I think there are ear and throat specialists here who should be able to treat that.”
Meanwhile, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a deputy Minister of Information denies criticisms that the President’s decision to undergo medical check-up abroad “is a vote of no confidence” in Ghana’s medical system.
“The President has confidence in the Ghanaian Health System,” he said. “Indeed, his personal Doctor is not a foreigner. We have seen other heads of state from other countries having personal physicians who are from other jurisdictions. Our president has a Ghanaian Doctor and he indeed will normally resort to local medical appraisal always,” he said.
“Foreign medical checkups are normally for second and third opinions which are allowed and they will come normally from the professionals who normally recommend the second opinion and this is what is happening in this instance. “This is not an instance of no confidence from the President on Ghanaian health delivery. We have very efficient and respected professionals and the President does not intend to slight them or doubt their competence.”**
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