Christmas carols have taken over the airwaves, traders are finally doing brisk business though the window-shoppers exceed the buyers and the decorations are out. It does feel like Christmas again. We all expect to read about minimizing what we eat and drink but I am going to disappoint you; come with me for a short walk in a totally different direction. Hopefully in addition to focusing on Christ during the season, you will have reason to spend extra time meditating.
I have been reading Dambisa Moyo’s “Dead Aid” and it has set me thinking. Is Africa poor because of aid (not AIDS please)? Has our health been compromised because of freebies? Will we be better off if we gradually cut off the Donor/Recipient mentality? Take a look around you and compare private businesses to state-owned ones, what do you notice?
Last week I spent a few minutes sitting at the waiting area of the ARRIVAL LOUNGE of Kotoka International Airport and it is an eyesore. Imagine that this is one of your first impressions of Ghana. It is dirty! The bathrooms are neglected, and I guess someone is paid to sweep and clean the premises. This goes way beyond the airport; it cuts across our nation and the whole continent. I think it is purely an attitude problem and that is not healthy.
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Even the physical aspect is a spectrum; how often have you felt out of sorts but after running tests that almost crippled your bank account and in addition having been examined physically by your doctor, you were given a clean bill of health? Two people could be physically healthy; one could be at 8 on the health metre while the other is at 90 on a scale of 0 – 100. How different will they feel? You could be healthy but not fit, that is why inspite of the good numbers on your medical form, you are unable to walk a mile in less than 30 minutes (totally unacceptable).
Africa has come a long way, “in Kenya for example, HIV prevalence rates have fallen from 15% in 2001 to 6.3% at the end of 2009.” African countries apart from South Africa are offering Medical Tourism, which is attracting even people from developed countries. You are able to access top-notch medical care at a cost that will not need your descendants to pay off your hospital bills. On the downside Africa is the only continent where life expectancy has stagnated and has even fallen back in a few countries. In this area Ghana may be a bright spot since life expectancy has increased. I hope Africa is not going to blame our poor life-expectancy on HIV-AIDS pandemic only. Adult literacy across many countries has fallen below pre-1980 levels and to think that being literate may help us make gains in the physical, mental and social aspects of health. We obviously have no regard for health indicators; in 2012 we are still struggling with malaria and filth related diseases such as Cholera. We are still losing precious lives to a preventable disease such as Cholera?
In the year 2000, 189 countries signed up to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The eight-point action plan was aimed at health, education, environmental sustainability, child mortality, and alleviating poverty and hunger. It is impossible to be healthy if we do not score high marks on all these parameters. It is over a decade now but can we confidently say we have made a significant impact in any of these areas as a continent? I still believe there is hope for Africa and we need our politicians, leaders and ourselves to make this happen. Do not wait for a job; create one. Do not wait for the government to make you healthy; take control of your own health.
If I had the opportunity to be president for one month, I would do just one thing before I was impeached; I would ensure that everyone had an opportunity to talk to a psychologist. We may not have enough psychologists but there are quite a number of people who can motivate us and get us out of our slumber. Our attitude is killing us and receiving freebies has not and will not solve our situation. We will have to challenge ourselves to move to the next level.
I believe that we need to change our attitude and we will not only acquire physical health but mental and social health will be added to us. You give change to a calabash holding man who is accompanied by a young girl of school-going age, many others do the same yet you find them at the same spot everyday, even on holidays. Can this gentleman afford a decent meal a day? Probably, but has this whole action of “donating” money to him everyday helped to improve his lot? It doesn’t appear to have. Maybe if you challenged him with an amount that he had to repay you in a year, he may have been more careful with the use of the money. What if you had helped him learn a trade? Sometimes this is the way I feel our “donors” see us.
So for Africa to experience improved health not only may you have to skip your favourite meals, drink what you do not like and do things you had rather not like exercising, but it may be ideal that we all change our attitude for the better; we should aim at being donors and not recipients, taking responsibility for our surroundings and most important position ourselves such that as a middle income country we do not panic when donors threaten to withdraw aid.
Is aid the cause of our woes in Africa? Can aid be blamed for our poor health conditions? Ms Moyo thinks aid is a deadly agent but certainly there are proponents of aid for African and other developing countries. I have no definite answers yet but like you I will be thinking about it during the festive season. MERRY CHRISTMAS and may we do everything possible to improve on our health.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
Source:
Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Moms’ Health Club
(dressel@healthclubsgh.com)
*Dr Essel is a medical doctor and is ISSA certified in exercise therapy and fitness nutrition.
Thought for the week –“The top three wealth creating strategies are 1. Stay Healthy 2. Stay Healthy 3. Stay Healthy.”
Reference:
1. DEAD AID – Damisa Moyo
