PV Obeng’s death and Ghana’s sordid emergency care system

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• ALEXANDRIA VIRGINA 11 years ago

  very brilliantly said, i don't even think Ghana has an ambulance system. they understand ambulance as corpse carrier. very sad thing in the 20th century emerging country like Ghana. i agree with your very smart contributio ...
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  very brilliantly said, i don't even think Ghana has an ambulance system. they understand ambulance as corpse carrier. very sad thing in the 20th century emerging country like Ghana. i agree with your very smart contribution. However, the message should be directed to parliament for someone to write a bill for debate. thank you

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• CARDINAL 11 years ago

  Thank you Mr Ennin for your informative article though I am troubled by this information you provided about being sixty miles away to the nearest hospital in Arizona of all states. That is true in Alaska but you can't even go ...
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  Thank you Mr Ennin for your informative article though I am troubled by this information you provided about being sixty miles away to the nearest hospital in Arizona of all states. That is true in Alaska but you can't even go more than thirty miles in a large state like Texas without a hospital, not even in West or South Texas..
  
  I have been in Arizona many times and I wonder what part of Arizona you were at to be sixty miles away from the nearest hospital for an asthma emergency.
  
  Mr Ennin, I am just surprised in USA apart from Alaska, one can be sixty miles away from a hospital and have lived in USA for thirty years and been to thirty four out of the fifty states.
  
  I have been to Arizona many times including driving through the desert areas to Fort Yuma in the Imperial county of California and never thought I was far away from a hospital. Thanks for this important information.

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• Gye Nyame 11 years ago

  Health care in general is a mess but sure emergency is a disaster and this has been the case since time immemorial in Ghana. The leaders waste time on funerals and nonsense but don't realize that a lot of the deaths are sense ...
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  Health care in general is a mess but sure emergency is a disaster and this has been the case since time immemorial in Ghana. The leaders waste time on funerals and nonsense but don't realize that a lot of the deaths are senseless deaths due to the bad health care system in general. Arizona must be a special case because most of the states in the US have hospitals/emergency centers on an average of about 15 minutes from residents, and the ambulance arrives according to stats within 8 minutes, 90% of the time, the problem with Ghana is even if you get an ambulance (which may not even be equipped with equipment and personal to stabilize you) to rush you to the hospital, you could get there and find out that there is no emergency doctor on duty, especially if this happens during the night. It is a shame that most of our leaders are over 40, and more likely to have medical issues don't realize the need to revamp and enhance the health system. You need a healthy population to have a healthy and productive economy.

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• P. kwesi 11 years ago

  This is exactly what we need. I wholeheartedly agree with you. Will the politicians listen? I hope so.

  This is exactly what we need. I wholeheartedly agree with you. Will the politicians listen? I hope so.

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• KB 11 years ago

  This is on the spot analysis of the emergency care situation in our dear country. I have thought and expressed similar thoughts to close friends. I hope those who make laws will take this into consideration and enact laws t ...
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  This is on the spot analysis of the emergency care situation in our dear country. I have thought and expressed similar thoughts to close friends. I hope those who make laws will take this into consideration and enact laws to prevent those who have no knowledge on handling of emergency situations to desist from attending to people who are become unconscious.

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• Home Boy 11 years ago

  So Mr. what are you doing about it, save to write from the comfort of DC suburb.

  So Mr. what are you doing about it, save to write from the comfort of DC suburb.

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• ... 11 years ago

  IT IS NOT UP TO THE WRITER. IT IS UP TO THE USELESS PRESIDENT YOU VOTED FOR

  IT IS NOT UP TO THE WRITER. IT IS UP TO THE USELESS PRESIDENT YOU VOTED FOR

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• Home Boy 11 years ago

  Just put on your thinking cap

  Just put on your thinking cap

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• Nyansa 11 years ago

  Name one instance where PV Obeng advocated for emergency medical services in Ghana.

  Name one instance where PV Obeng advocated for emergency medical services in Ghana.

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• Kobo Pesewa 11 years ago

  One of the quite "impressive" elements of the late President Mills funeral was the spanking new "stretch limo hearse" that conveyed the body from the 37 Military Hospital to the State House. It fitted in perfectly with Ghanai ...
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  One of the quite "impressive" elements of the late President Mills funeral was the spanking new "stretch limo hearse" that conveyed the body from the 37 Military Hospital to the State House. It fitted in perfectly with Ghanaian funerary culture - sending off the deceased in style. The irony did not seem to dawn on the authorities that they could have spent the same amount of money possibly buying 2 fully-equipped ambulances that would be kept ready at all times and accompany the President everywhere!
  
  We get back to the theme of enlightenment and true refinement. How could Mills, who had his doctorate from the prestigious London School of Economics, taught at Stanford, USA and in Holland, rely on a faith-healer as his primary caregiver? How could he not have a functioning ambulance service in place at his own office? How could Mahama, as Vice President, not see to the provision of this service for the President for nearly 8 years? How could Mahama rush in the last elections to purchase luxury SUV'S for traditional rulers instead of Ambulances for hospitals in the areas ruled by the Chiefs?
  
  Whether it was Kufuor or Mills or Mahama, I put it to them that they have no cultural refinement (anibuei)!

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• Owusu 11 years ago

  I could not have put it more succinctly. Well written.

  I could not have put it more succinctly. Well written.

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• Kobby Hagan 11 years ago

  Home Boy, the guy Ennin says he is ready to help. It is up to the government and people of Ghana to take him up on his word. I always say that it's people like him who can save Ghana. May be the Ministry of Health should sen ...
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  Home Boy, the guy Ennin says he is ready to help. It is up to the government and people of Ghana to take him up on his word. I always say that it's people like him who can save Ghana. May be the Ministry of Health should send him e-mail and solicit ideas from him. Brilliant article!

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• awonaniba 11 years ago

  Ghanaians are stupid. They turn every medical case into an emergency. Live dem to die.

  Ghanaians are stupid. They turn every medical case into an emergency. Live dem to die.

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• Wofa Koo 11 years ago

  Well said.
  The president died with no assess to an ambulance. P V died in the same way. These are the men and women who will seek medical checkup abroad because they have the means. Are we learning from history? Ordinary ...
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  Well said.
  The president died with no assess to an ambulance. P V died in the same way. These are the men and women who will seek medical checkup abroad because they have the means. Are we learning from history? Ordinary people….. don' mine. The evil that men do lives after them but some will suffer …….

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• Kofi 11 years ago

  Thank you!!!

  Thank you!!!

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• Tekonline.org 11 years ago

  Yet another reminder, that our lives should first and foremost be protected by an effective healthcare system.
  
  All our great leaders, patriots, politicians, and policymakers, much as they are passionate about building Gha ...
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  Yet another reminder, that our lives should first and foremost be protected by an effective healthcare system.
  
  All our great leaders, patriots, politicians, and policymakers, much as they are passionate about building Ghana, MUST be alive first. So it makes sense that they seriously promote a health-first attitude at all times.
  
  Rather unfortunately, death is so acceptable and even glorified in the Ghanaian society (except for the immediate bereaved), that little time is spent on "what happened?", "how can we prevent that from happening?", "what can we learn from the situation?", etc.
  
  In realty, we should not be second-guessing the cause of PV's passing. We are not privy to any autopsy results. But in case it was complications from a severe asthma attack, here are a few tidbits.
  
  Asthma is the body's rather imperfect attempt to prevent a person from breathing in a "foreign" object. And as often is the case, the body tends to overreact. As an analogy, the body senses there is an intruder in the backyard and drops an atomic bomb instead of a few threatening gunshots!
  
  In fact, more often than not, illness is rather the body's crude attempt, sometimes fatal, to solve a problem for our own "good".
  
  All over the world, there had been two standard therapies for dealing with asthma.
  For acute episodes of breathing difficulty, the first line of treatment is opening the airways ("bronchodilation") with "beta agonists" such as albuterol (called "Ventolin" in the US). In such situations, the airway muscles are trying to squeeze shut as a response to an allergen or an irritant (in rare cases including emotional stress).
  
  When the above scenario progresses into an inflammation, you have a much more serious and life-threatening event. The inflammation causes the airways to be plugged with mucus and other secretions, on top of the narrowing of the openings. Such emergency situations are tackled with steroids.
  
  Fortunately in this day and age, there is a weapon for preventing the above scenarios from occurring in the first place. There is now an inhaler (called "Advair" in the US) containing a steroid (like fluticasone) plus a beta agonist (like
  salmeterol) to be inhaled daily whether or not there is a breathing problem or not. It has proven quite effective in preventing asthma attacks of any severity.
  
  Currently, there are also electric machines with pumps (nebulizers) that help the drug inhalation process, including battery-powered ones for air travel.
  
  Interestingly - and not too surprisingly - one of the world experts on asthma is Dr Clement Osei of New York. Shouldn't Ghana's Ministry of Health be tapping the brains of such diasporans for policy formulation?
  
  It is also worth mentioning that during her research years at Legon, the late Prof. Ewurama Addy was involved in a bilateral effort with American scientists at Merck, to study how asthma drugs work, using a Ghanaian plant that caused dilation of airways to alleviate asthma. The active compound in the plant was isolated, analyzed, identified, and named "dehydrosaponin". Interestingly, the inhabitants of the village where the plant was found used it for asthma!
  See one of the publications below:
  -----------------------------------
  "An activator of calcium-dependent potassium channels isolated from a medicinal herb"
  
  by
  O. B. McManus , G. H. Harris , K. M. Giangiacomo , P. Feigenbaum , J. P. Reuben , M. E. Addy , J. F. Burka , G. J. Kaczorowski , M. L. Garcia
  Biochemistry, 1993, 32 (24), pp 6128–6133
  DOI: 10.1021/bi00075a002
  Publication Date: June 1993

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• Kobo Pesewa 11 years ago

  It can only be said that the behaviour of our kleptocrats vis-a-vis national development shows that being wealthy is not equal to being enlightened and refined.
  
  The writer is quite mistaken in lumping Kwame Nkrumah with o ...
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  It can only be said that the behaviour of our kleptocrats vis-a-vis national development shows that being wealthy is not equal to being enlightened and refined.
  
  The writer is quite mistaken in lumping Kwame Nkrumah with other Ghanaian leaders in their neglect of infrastructure. He must be forgiven for his willful ignorance as he may have been born decades after Nkrumah passed away. Suffice it to say that it was Nkrumah who established the Ghana Medical School, built hundreds of hospitals, not to mentions schools, and sent hundreds of students to study medicine and other scientific fields abroad. Ghana still runs on Nkrumah-built infrastructure! Only Kwame Nkrumah could be said to have been really enlightened and cultured. Nkrumah quickly moved in to put into place infrastructure that the British colonialist had ignored in their 200 years of colonial plunder and exploitation.
  
  Recently Ibrahim Mahama, described as a multi-billionaire, was pictured eating tuozafi in some ghetto "chop bar". While some may see it as a positive reflection on him - a wealthy man who eats in the same place as the poor, I have another perspective. What prevents the billionaire brother of the President from investing in a modern shopping complex with decent restaurants or even just one modern restaurant inferior to none anywhere in the world, where he could have his favourite ethnic cuisine? I put it to Ibrahim Mahama that he has no culture despite his easy billions. His mind sees refinement as acquiring mega mansions, luxury cars and private jets! Accra could overflow with filth, the colonial-era open sewage system could remain and breed mosquitoes and cholera for all he could care!
  
  This is the problem we had had since the overthrow of Nkrumah. Ignorant, greedy, corrupt deleteds who have looted the national kitty to acquire easy wealth but have absolutely no clue about modern urban development, health care systems and general infrastructure development. It is heart-rending to read that there is a girl's secondary school in the North where some 1000 students have to use one water closet! And yet there are all these elites with millions living in Accra unconcerned about what goes on.

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• BREAD 11 years ago

  Our country is indeed in a sordid state and our politicians heads of state institutions are THRIVING on the citizens' ignorance, gullibility and vulnerability. Come elections time, and they would be parading every hamlet with ...
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  Our country is indeed in a sordid state and our politicians heads of state institutions are THRIVING on the citizens' ignorance, gullibility and vulnerability. Come elections time, and they would be parading every hamlet with cash, food, electronics and in some cases vehicles to solicit for votes and unfortunately our people will fall for it. It is only prayers that will save our dear country. It is sad, very very sad. Thank you for your insightful rejoinder. God bless you.

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• Adongo Tongo 11 years ago

  Kobo Pesewa, you are mistaken. The article is about emergency care system.The writer is right that none of our leaders since independence has done anything about emergency care. Not even Kwame Nkrumah. Look at the carnage on ...
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  Kobo Pesewa, you are mistaken. The article is about emergency care system.The writer is right that none of our leaders since independence has done anything about emergency care. Not even Kwame Nkrumah. Look at the carnage on our roads. People bleed to death any time there is an accident. Somebody in the government should contact the writer and find out how to initiate a program to start saving precious Ghanaian lives.

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• Asea Ho 11 years ago

  They think right because they eat GMO generated food. Kwesi is right, PV's death is revealing how hypocritical the Ghanaian is.

  They think right because they eat GMO generated food. Kwesi is right, PV's death is revealing how hypocritical the Ghanaian is.

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• Imma 11 years ago

  What a brilliant acticle

  What a brilliant acticle

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• SELFISH LOT 11 years ago

  FOR ABANDONING ALL OF OUR HEALTH CARE FACILITIES TO ROT BECAUSE THEY ARE ABLE TO GO ABROAD FOR MEDICAL CARE AT THE EXPENSE OF TAXPAYERS, ALL OF OUR POLITICAL LEADERS, PAST AND PRESENT, MUST DIE IN EMERGENCY AT HOME LIKE MILLS ...
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  FOR ABANDONING ALL OF OUR HEALTH CARE FACILITIES TO ROT BECAUSE THEY ARE ABLE TO GO ABROAD FOR MEDICAL CARE AT THE EXPENSE OF TAXPAYERS, ALL OF OUR POLITICAL LEADERS, PAST AND PRESENT, MUST DIE IN EMERGENCY AT HOME LIKE MILLS AND PV AS PAYMENT FOR BEING SELFISH AND STUPID.

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• Alonte din 11 years ago

  But I bet you nobody in our health care system will even print this out, copy others on it or discuss it. They are do useless and unimaginative. As for P.V. he got his just deserts, dying like a common thief (which he was in ...
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  But I bet you nobody in our health care system will even print this out, copy others on it or discuss it. They are do useless and unimaginative. As for P.V. he got his just deserts, dying like a common thief (which he was in fact) in a lousy filthy taxi. God punish am

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• Brainy Guy 11 years ago

  Baffour, no Ghanaian politician is going to pay attention to your invaluable article. There should be an incentive like allocating millions of cedis to the project; 20% going to the party, 10% going to the minister, 10% going ...
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  Baffour, no Ghanaian politician is going to pay attention to your invaluable article. There should be an incentive like allocating millions of cedis to the project; 20% going to the party, 10% going to the minister, 10% going to the financial engineer for the loan to the Government, party official and foot soldiers should be paid. After everything said and done, they would award the contract to a northner or Ewe who has a pseudo company in Sanitation engineering. later the contractor would not complete the project and blame it on non availability of equipment and public nonchalance. Finally the contractor would file a lawsuit for judgment debt with the help of corrupt judge and get paid million of dollars.

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