Addressing the request for Inquests

Let me begin by stating that I approach this topic with the utmost trepidation. Trepidation because I am about to write an article slightly critical of Ghana's notoriously clannish and prickly Medical Fraternity.

Out there in the Western World, criticism of the Medical Fraternity guarantees the critic the best care in the event that he or she is hospitalized. This is borne out of the omnipresent fear of a trip to the courts to defend a medical malpractice suit. In this part of the world though, criticizing a Medical Practitioner or Judge guarantees that they will show you where power lies, when your life falls into their hands. So being the Ghanaman that I am, I ask myself if it is wise, publishing my thoughts in this article? One day, my life could be in the hands of some Doctor who had read or heard about this article? But I'll take the risk of penning this article rather than maintain what my dear sister Eurika calls the hypocrisy of silence.

Interesting times have indeed been unleashed on us. Todays Daily Graphic has an article  in which the Ghana Medical Association has appealed for an inquest into the death of the former President of Ghana. The reasons they adduce for this appeal are:

1. an inquest will shape policy on the medical management of our Presidents
2. an inquest will establish the actual medical cause of death of the immediate past President at the 37 Military Hospital

The sheer irony. Ghanaian Doctors calling for an inquest. But one thing President Mills taught me was to address issues and not personalities so I will exercise Mill'sean restraint and carefully select my focus and my words.

Let me take a deep breath here and try . . . . . . . many needless deaths occur in Ghana's hospitals. I have always maintained that these deaths take place because those under whose watch, these deaths occur, will simply never be held accountable. If Medical staff had to painstakingly account for every death under their watch, such deaths would be minimized.

I don't want to belabor the point. I whole heartedly welcome the call by the Ghana Medical Association for an inquest. However I respectfully submit that the focus should not be restricted to the Presidents, but to EVERY SINGLE DEATH in every single medical facility in Ghana. Granted it might not be practical to have a mandatory inquest for every death but under certain circumstances or upon request by the family of the deceased, an inquest should be held to determine:

• the sequence of events leading to the deceased taking ill
• diagnoses
• treatments,
• medication and
• doses administered
• records
• actions

The inquests in my humble opinion will put a microscope on the activities of the medical personnel in charge. If their conduct or professionalism is found wanting in any way or they are found culpable for the death of those under their care, then naturally appropriate sanctions should follow. When Doctors witness the awkward spectacle of fellow Doctors being grilled at an inquest, and having to explain certain actions, inactions or choice of medication, they will attach a renewed sense of discipline and professionalism into their daily chores.

Once an example is made of a few "pioneers", the rest will quickly fall in line and attack their responsibilities with a lot more gusto and professionalism than is the case in Ghana right now.

In conclusion, the Ghana Medical Association should call for an inquest into every single questionable Ghanaian death. This should have the effect of "shaping policy on the medical management of each and every Ghanaian citizen". Every Ghanaian citizen means as much to his family, as the President meant to most Ghanaians and the GMA.

My humble tuppence dear GMA. Dis one no eye red I beg

A Professor and a Gentleman

I have always dreaded what I call the next moment. One moment, life is on cruise control, everything is hunky dory, the next moment, a phone call, somebody barging in, breaking news on the TV . . . and then bad news that changes your life forever.

This afternoon, it was business as usual. One moment I was listening to the radio blissfully, the next, Richard Sky was announcing that our President had died in the course of his service to the nation. Ei!!!!

When I woke up this morning, Professor Mills was the President of the Republic of Ghana. And when somebody is the President, the tendency is to subconsciously elevate him to superhuman, almost immortal status. But as the news of his passing sank in and the numbness wore off, it dawned on me that an old and very sick man had just died. It hit me all of a sudden how alone he must have felt as President knowing that he was very ill and that it might be terminal.

Just a few weeks ago, I went down with a bad case of malaria. I was knocked out for a couple of days, shivering, weak and with a headache. I remember feeling so sorry for myself and almost snapping down the phone at customers who had called to find out why I wasn't showing up for meetings and installations. Couldn't they see that I was ill? Couldn't they tell from my voice that I was ill? I got off the phone as quickly as I could get and curled back in bed feeling sorry for myself.

Not President Mills. He was a fighter. Whatever afflicted him, was in retrospect, a lot more serious than my malaria. But unlike me, he didn't shy away from work and from doing his duty. He continued campaigning and won the election. He went about his Presidential duties, his ailment and critics notwithstanding, with a smile.

It really saddens me to think that this very accomplished, learned, dignified and humble Fulbright Scholar, throughout his tenure of office, was a very sick old man. He didn't only have to deal with his ailment, but he had to put up with all manner of invective flung at him daily. As if it wasn't enough to worry about his mortality, the subject had to be flung in his face incessantly. But he endured it gracefully and stoically. He kept on fulfilling his duties as President of the Country. Testament to his sense of duty and the fighter in him, right to the very end, he was positive about his prospects and contrary to his critics didn't abdicate his responsibility to go and nurse himself.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Aunty Naadu. They had no children and he must have been her all. His passing will create a big vacuum in her life. I can only hope and pray that God fills this vacuum and gives her the strength to cope through this difficult period in her life.

Death and grief , brings out the worst in human beings. I scroll down the Facebook news feed and read the hypocritical status updates and posts of those who previously pilloried Professor Mills. Because of them, now I know that at any funeral, amongst the supposedly mourning mourners, there are some who are mourning externally and celebrating internally. A dear friend, who happens to be on the opposing side, actually called me up and started celebrating the Professors death. Furious with disbelief, I cut the line and have steadily refused to take his calls.

But I remember the grace and dignity with which Professor Mills dealt with his critics and detractors. And out of respect to his memory, I will try and emulate him. Instead of the worst, I will try to let the Professors passing bring out the best in me. Just like it brought out the best in our democracy this evening at Parliament house with the seamless transition of power to President Mahama.

For the first time, the overused phrase, Rest in Peace, means something to me. Professor John Evans Atta-Mills is resting in perfect peace. He is at peace from the physical pain, he is at peace from the anguish of knowing that he might die, he is at peace from the immense responsibility of running this nation , he is at peace from the anguish of leaving Naadu and his son without him in this world. Most of all, he is at peace from the unfair insults and criticism heaped on him by friends and foe alike.

Professor Mills was at heart, a decent and pleasant man who wished no ill on anybody. Only God can judge him because only God knows his heart. President Mills is free from all the physical pain, stress, evil and nonsense that prevails here on earth. Tonight, his physical remains lie in the mortuary at 37 but his soul and spirit are up there in heaven and he must be smiling down at us and shaking his head at some of the hypocritical status updates here on Facebook.

Professor Mills as we found out in the end, you were only human. Literally translating from that Akan saying, "you didn't come to do it all. You came to do your bit"

Rest in Peace Sir!! We go carry on from here


No night in Zion, there is no night there
Allelujah there is no night there
Jah is our Light
And we need no candlelight
Allelujah there is no night there

Luciano

The importance of keeping our word

The process of authoring this article is more or less a public exercise in introspection. I wish I could pretend otherwise, but I am not perfect. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And in the process of researching this article, I am discovering and remembering things about myself, that are pretty unsavoury. It is however my sincere hope that, with this article, I will strive henceforth to be a better Ghanaian and by extension a better global citizen.

A Ghanaian simply cannot be trusted to keep his word. Slowly but surely, over a period of years and possibly decades, we have individually and collectively, failed to keep our promises to each other and the outside world. Consequently it has become accepted, amongst ourselves and to outsiders, that a little slack must be cut for the Ghanaian, when he makes a promise or undertakes to do something. It has become the accepted state of affairs in this country. 

Interestingly enough, the Ghanaian attitude towards time, is the surest manner in which we unfailingly demonstrate our inability to keep our  word. Ghanaians have the chronological equivalent of Dyslexia. We see the time, we know the time, we acknowledge the time, but we simply can’t keep to time. Ministers of State are late to functions. Brides are late to weddings. Employees are late to work. Our system has adjusted to this state of affairs by stating start times for events that are an hour before the actual start time. Even then, we manage somehow to be late. Anytime we fail to be punctual to an event, the latecomer is basically announcing to his host in particular, and to the entire world at large, that he simply cannot be relied on to keep his word. Irrespective of what we think, we are an intrinsic part of the global village. In this age of real time communication and just in time production, strict adherence to time is as much a currency as the US Dollar or Euro. You miss a deadline and your word henceforth is worthless. Time, and by extension, life, simply marches forward and waits for no one. 

The Ghanaian business environment is a potentially lucrative and flourishing one. But it simply cannot realize its true potential because of the fundamental lack of trust that underpins every single transaction in this country. Every day, thousands, if not millions of business transactions, are conducted by Ghanaian businesses small and large, between themselves and the Government of Ghana. It has become accepted that there will always be a delay in paying for goods and services rendered. It is variously referred to as credit or delays in payment but it is fundamentally the buyer refusing to keep his word by not paying the seller on time. Without a fundamental change in the way we conduct business in this country, Ghanaian businesses will never be fully compatible with the global economy.

In a typically Ghanaian business transaction, the seller implicitly or explicitly undertakes to provide a service or a product of a particular quality, to the buyer. The buyer accepts that upon provision of the service or delivery of the goods, the buyer will promptly pay the seller for the goods. What tends to happen in Ghana is that, the seller out of sheer tardiness or in an effort to maximize his profit, provides services or goods of a quality inferior to that implicitly or explicitly agreed. The buyer in return also applies the Ghanaian attitude to time when processing payment for the goods and services provided. What the buyer fails to realize is that time is money, so every day, week, month or year that the payment is delayed, a cost accrues to the seller. I dare say, if Ghanaian businesses largely kept their word to themselves, Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product could increase by 20 – 30%.

This state of affairs has prevailed for decades in Ghanaian business, from the most prestigious blue chip multinationals to our tradesmen like masons, carpenters and plumbers. The end result is that the mental configuration and business processes of all participants, have evolved to cope with and even profit from, this state of affairs. Sellers  in addition to providing goods and services of inferior quality, tend to overprice their invoices to compensate for the predicted delay in payment. Buyers because they are not compelled to do so, tend to purchase goods and services that they can’t afford at that point in time, hoping for some future predicted revenue with which to use to effect payment. When it is time to effect payment, buyers resort to all sorts of evasive and defensive tactics to postpone and sometimes renege on payment. End result is a business world where a promise by a Ghanaian is absolutely worthless. Yet these same businesses complain bitterly when banks refuse to lend to them but direct their lending instead to our Indian and Lebanese brethren. Who necessarily are not better or cleaner businessmen but simply happen to be better at keeping their word. Over time. And by far.

In business transactions conducted with the outside world, just like with most global citizens and businessmen, quite a few Ghanaian businessmen have credit cards issued by reputable banks in Ghana. But Ghanaians are excluded in trying to use it to pay for certain goods and services online. We feel discriminated against especially when we consider the fact that the same websites will accept credit card payments from our brothers in Togo, Benin and Senegal.  But it is simply the case that a Ghanaians word cannot be trusted. When anyone pays for goods and services with a credit card, what is fundamentally occurring is that the buyer is promising to pay the merchant for the purchased goods or services. But with the level of Credit card fraud emanating from Ghana, the message we are consistently putting out there is that a Ghanaian cannot be relied on to keep his word. So when a Ghanaian implicitly promises to pay for goods and services with a credit card, his word is basically worthless to the merchant out there.  

A man without his word is nothing. So how do we individually and gradually train ourselves to keep our word. It is all about self discipline. First thing is take control of our minds and situations. Never promise what you know you can’t deliver. No matter how awkward the situation, no matter how convenient or tempting it is to make a promise that we aren’t sure that we can keep, we shouldn’t. We must do it every single time not some of the time and build up the habit of promising to deliver on something when we have doubts about our ability to do so. This applies to the business world and personal world

Secondly we must think long term. Our ability and willingness to honour our word will reap dividends for us in the future. Often we allow short term considerations to take precedence over promises that we have made to others. Once we make a promise to someone or some organization to do something we must strive to fulfill that pledge. 

A man who can’t keep his word is basically nothing. Its simply a matter of respect and trust. And like respect and trust, it takes a lifetime to acquire and one broken promise to lose it all. Individually and nationally.

Let those who have ears hear.

Ghanaians. Fair Weather Friends?

This morning, going through my news feed on Facebook, I came across the picture of Asamoah Gyan above. It's layout and wording projected connotations of the sort, normally associated with obituaries in our dailies. It was a joke to some, but I wondered how I would have felt if I was Asamoah-Gyan or a member of Asamoah-Gyan's family. In fact it is not funny at all.

Some Ghanaians remind me of a story involving a contractor friend of mine married to a lovely woman. When the contracts were flowing, my friend was bringing money home, spoiling the family with gifts as well as the essentials of life. Everything went well and his wife was the most loving of wives. However when the contracts were scarce, the gifts dried up, the essentials of life reduced to the barest minimum and his wife became a monster to live with.

Instead of being supportive and encouraging in the lean times, the wife called him all sorts of names, ranted at the lack of his manhood for not being able to support the lifestyle that they had become accustomed to. You can imagine what it would be like to be in the shoes of this gentleman. Precisely when he needed encouragement and support from those he toiled for, he was getting vehement abuse and his very self esteem and self worth was being attacked by those he fought for. That must be how Asamoah Gyan must be feeling this morning. That must be how the Black Stars must be feeling this morning.

In drawing parallels between this analogy and real life, Ghana’s Black Stars are the contractor, and the Ghanaians, the ungrateful fair weather wife. During any campaign or tournament, when all is going well, we cheer them on. But as soon as the tables turn, our support, our love turns sour. We heap unbelievable invective on the Black Stars, precisely when they need support and encouragement the most. The invective is so venomenous that it sometimes spreads to their families. This character permeates other aspects of Ghanaian life.

Our Black Stars do all the hard work. They train, day in and day out, for tournaments. They undergo strenuous physical exercise to prepare their bodies and minds for tournaments. Out of those who loudly castigate the Black Stars for losing, how many of them spend an hour or more training physically? How many of them even sit down for a dedicated focussed hour every day, to think or prepare for their jobs? Before any tournament, millions of unqualified armchair coaches are already, loudly analyzing, criticizing, chastising and dissecting the composition of the team, as well as the character and competence of various members and aspects of our team. It is no wonder that Michael Essien and Kevin Prince Boateng resigned from the National team to focus on their personal careers. Sitting behind their radios or iPads this morning and listening to the abuse being piled upon Asamoah-Gyan, they must feel finally and totally vindicated by their decision. As I speak, a wise old man, in an "I told you so" manner, laments about the lack of strikers in the Ghanaian squad. I wonder what his comments were when Asamoah Gyan was striking consistently for Sunderland.

Asamoah-Gyan missed a penalty in the World Cup and Ghana lost out. The vocal Ghanaian minority heaped abuse and vitriol on the poor boy and virtually hounded him out of the country. I remember his poor mother, so traumatised, imploring on them to lay off her son. The vitriol was simply redirected at the poor woman. Steve Bruce, sitting across the Mediterranean and the English Channel, saw something that Ghana refused to see. He paid millions of dollars to bring the reviled Asamoah Gyan into Sunderland and gave him the encouragement and support, we Ghanaians had denied him. Asamoah Gyan went on to excel for Sunderland. And all of a sudden Ghanaians had forgotten that he was a villain and were following Sunderland matches and cheering anytime “our boy scored”.

Like footballers, the cream of Ghanaian expertise, talent and competence, ply their trade outside the country. The Ghanaian system nurtures them to a point and then simply does not recognize, reward or appreciate their talent and expertise. They are left with no choice but to travel outside where their expertise and talents are recognized, rewarded and appreciated. Occasionally, the homing instinct brings them home in an effort to visit family or give back to Ghana. We Ghanaians, as a people and as a system, from granting them visa’s, through Kotoka International Airport, out and about in town and finally in our homes, make every effort to make their lives miserable and extract money from them until we can take no more. And then chastise them for being too chisel or too known.

Ghanaians think God is only for Ghanaians. We talk almost blasphemously about God being a Ghanaian. But if we go back to the Bible, God or Allah is a God, not only for Ghana, but for all of creation. The Zambians are as much Gods children, as we Ghanaians think we are. We will never understand Gods ways. We will never understand why God didn’t allow us to beat the Zambians and move on to the finals. But if I was to hazard a guess, God knew how ungrateful and unsupportive we would be, if the Black Stars didn’t make it to the finals. So he allowed the Zambians through.

In every cloud there is a silver lining. A lesser person would have committed suicide if he had missed that penalty at the World Cup. Asamoah-Gyan, instead, forged ahead in life and in his career. He excelled at Sunderland and his bank balance is now excelling from far away Abu Dhabi. Ghana-Zambia was only a blip in his career and in his life. He will bounce back to move on to greater heights.

Likewise the Black Stars should and will regroup mentally and strategically and prepare to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil. I am sure that there are valuable lessons that they can learn from this tournament and especially from their defeat to Zambia. This defeat should motivate them to lift their game and to ensure that they qualify for the World Cup in Brazil.

Hopefully on the 13^th of July, 2014, in Brazil, when Asamoah-Gyan finally lifts the World Cup for Ghana, Ghanaians will look back on the Ghana - Zambia match and realize in retrospect, that it was not a defeat.

It was simply a blessing in disguise.

We are all Woyomes

Hello Ghanaians. I am sure that if Alfred Agbesi Woyome was paid 1 Cedi for every single mention of his name by Ghanaians, he could have, legally and morally, made more than whatever sum of money that he was purported to have been paid.

Over the past couple of weeks, Ghanaians from every corner of Ghana, and indeed the diaspora, have discussed at length, the circumstances and issues, surrounding the payments alleged to have been made to the esteemed gentleman. But to me, it’s a simple case of double standards at work nationally. Most of us discuss the log in Woyome’s eye, but ignore the specks in their very own eyes, pardon the twist if you may. To my simple mind, Alfred Agbesi Woyome hasn’t done any worse than what the average Ghanaian routinely does.

That is to benefit from the taxpayers largesse without necessarily working for it or deserving it.

Everybody in Ghana is asking exactly what quantum of work Alfred Agbesi Woyome put in, to warrant such a huge sum of money being shelled out to him. The irony of it is that, some of those asking that very question publicly, are people who routinely benefit from the taxpayer without necessarily putting in the concomitant amount of work.

Allow me to explain. Since the days of Kwame Nkrumah, the average Ghanaian mindset has slowly but surely been conditioned to expect something for nothing. The Ghanaian Government paid for people to go to school, the Ghanaian Government paid for people to go to University, the Ghanaian government paid for those graduates to pursue Graduate and post graduate programs abroad. The Ghanaian government guaranteed them jobs. The Ghanaian government paid for trips abroad, the Ghanaian government gave them houses, the Ghanaian government gave them cars, fuelled them and paid for drivers to chauffeur them around. The list goes on and on but basically an entire generation of Ghanaian middle to upper class functionaries have grown up, with their mindsets conditioned to expect certain perks from the government, as a basic human right. To those who might counter with the argument that such people work and as such deserve such perks, I put it categorically to them that the perks are simply disproportionate for the amount of work that those people put in or the value that such people create. I dare say that for such people, the amount of money taken from our GDP to support them far outweighs their contribution to Ghana’s GDP. Britain, with a GDP 65 times that of Ghana, does not give it’s Ministers Land Cruisers to ride in, neither does the UK taxpayer give their Ministers the option the purchase the government houses that they live in.

At the very top of the government pyramid, the same mentality prevails. A Presidential commission, legally constituted and populated by Presidential appointees, determines an overly generous package of retirement benefits for our ex Presidents. From houses, offices, flights, hotel accommodation abroad, staff and even vehicles, everything is paid for by the government of Ghana. I hereby ask the question again? Whatever work they put into their roles, is it commensurate with the benefits that they are slated to receive post retirement? Take a look at the United States and the United Kingdom. Even with their vastly larger resources, they are not as generous as we are when they are allocating state resources for the luxurious upkeep of their former Heads of States.

Further down the social ladder, those in the public sector, have the same Woyomic mentality. These government employees are paid every month to deliver on their jobs and render a service. They clamour to clamber upon the Single Spine bandwagon but still deem it their inalienable right to demand money from the public for the very services they are paid to render. To my simple mind, this is basically money they are not entitled to, have not worked for but are demanding and receiving.

So the next time you hear or see someone castigating Alfred Agbesi Woyome remember where he works and the perks he enjoys by virtue of where he works. And make your mind up accordingly.

That is assuming that you yourself are not a Woyome.

Institutionalizing Compassion and Professionalism into Health Care

The old man who inspired this article ( head bowed )

Two days ago, I attended a funeral of a friend’s father. After several hours at the funeral, it was time to leave, so our grateful friend, a Ghanaian Doctor based in the United States, accompanied us out of the funeral grounds. At the car park, as the seven of us indulged in some pre departure small talk, we heard a loud thud. We turned towards the source of the thud and saw an old man, clad in funeral attire, lying prone in the dust beside a bench he had obviously fallen off.

Within one tenths of a second, my brain had processed the entire scene and come to the conclusion that the man must have been drunk. I turned away from the scene to continue the conversation. But not the Doctor. He took one look at the scene and walked over to the man lying in the dust. Shamed into action, I followed him. As I got to the scene, the Doctor was struggling to lift the old man into an upright position. I joined him and we seated the gentleman back on the bench. The Doctor started asking questions . . .”Are you alright?”, “ Do you have a headache?”, “Has this happened to you before”, “Are you on medication?”. For a split second, I thought I was participating in a real life episode of Grey’s Anatomy. The old man initially dazed did not answer but when he did, a gust of “fuse” burst out of his mouth and into our nostrils. As if to confirm what our noses had already told us, he declared that he was only drunk and that there was nothing to worry about. With that we wiped the dust off his face and clothes and with obvious reluctance the Doctor walked away, followed by myself.

The entire episode did not take more than five minutes but those five minutes highlighted and underlined the glaring difference in Medical Care, Medical ethics and patients rights between Ghana and the United States. Most Ghanaians have stories to tell about the lack of compassion and professionalism, exhibited by Ghanaian Health Professionals towards their clients, i.e patients. Many a Ghanaian has a story to tell of friends, relatives and loved ones who have died avoidable deaths in Ghanaian hospitals. In most of these situations, a slight dose of professionalism and compassion would have saved Ghanaian lives.

Ghana trains many Doctors, some of whom stay in the country to work, others who emigrate to other countries to practice their medicine? I have always wondered why, the same Ghanaian Doctors, excel out there and are more compassionate and in many cases, more professional than the colleagues they left behind in Ghana? My Doctor friend had been trained in Ghana by those, and together with those who currently man our health system. He left for the United States 10 years ago and obviously had entered a system that had institutionalized compassion and care. By working within the American Medical system and doing what the “Romans” did, professionalism and compassion had been imbued in him. It was second nature, almost reflex for him to react the way he did, irrespective of geographical location. The saddest aspect for me was the fact that if he came back to Ghana to work in our health care system, this work ethic would slowly evaporate and he would become as ______________ as the health care professionals here in Ghana. I leave you, the reader to fill the blanks as you see fit.

My hypothesis is that the framework that exists out there, has institutionalized compassion and respect for patients rights in a manner that simply does not exist here in Ghana. We need to replicate this framework here.

What is this framework? Basically United States Congressional law protects and ensures the right to quality medical care and the right to informed consent. These laws essentially provide patients with rights and enjoins Health care providers to guarantee those rights. The first Hospital Patients Bill of rights was drafted in 1973 and must be posted in the corridors of accredited hospitals in the US. It includes 12 basic rights, namely:

1. A patient has the right to considerate and respectful care.

2. A patient has the right to receive complete information from a physician about a patient's diagnosis, treatment plan, and prognosis.

3. A patient has the right to obtain information about the specific nature of a proposed treatment or procedure, a disclosure of the risks involved, and information about medical alternatives.

4. A patient has the right to refuse treatment and to be informed of the medical consequences.

5. A patient has the right to privacy during discussion of one's medical condition and while undergoing medical care.

6. A patient has the right to expect all records related to medical care will be kept confidential.

7. A patient has the right to expect that reasonable efforts will be made to respond to the patient's request for services, and that the patient will not be transferred to another medical facility without advising the patient of the need to be transferred and without ensuring that the new facility will accept transfer of the patient.

8. A patient has the right to obtain information about the relationships amongst care providers in the hospital and related medical and educational institutions. This is designed to protect patients from conflicting interests that might affect quality of care.

9. A patient has the right to obtain information about human experimentation and research that might affect treatment or care, and to refuse to take part in such experimentation and research.

10. A patient has the right to expect reasonable continuity of care. This is meant to assure the patient that, for example, diagnoses will be followed up with continued treatment.

11. A patient has the right to examine and receive an explanation of the hospital bill.

12. A patient has the right to be informed of hospital rules and regulations that apply to patient conduct.

These rights, combined with:

• The Hippocratic Oath

• American Medical Association Principles of Ethics

• American Nurses Association Code

• Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor act 1989

• Patient Self Determination Act

• Medical Malpractice Precedents established in courts

have combined to ensure that the highest standard of medical care is given to each and every patient in the United States. Basically US Law and Medical ethics require a Health Professional to provide comprehensive treatment to a patient who is presented at a medical facility and/ or find another medical professional who can. Anything less than that and you could be open to a Negligence or Medical Malpractice lawsuit. I submit that there is nothing like this to inculcate professionalism and compassion into any Health Professional.

If Ghana could replicate to an appreciable extent, the above framework, customized to our peculiar context, we could create the foundation for a total revamp of our health care system. Recognition by health professionals, that patients have rights, can transform the Doctor-Patient relationship from an authoritative and paternalistic one to one where the quality of medical care is enhanced and both sides form a partnership to achieve the goal of universal health care.

To the average Ghanaian Health Professional, all this will be scoffed at and regarded as being too "book long", inapplicable and unnecessary. But this framework, with enforcement, provides benefits to both patients and hospitals. It guarantees the patient quality and appropriate health care and ensures that in the long term, with enforcement, the health profession and professionals deliver on their objectives as well as the Hippocratic Oath.

It is my hope, that somehow,the Executive and Parliament of Ghana will establish a legal framework emanating from our Law of Tort, to create the necessary foundation from which to build a healthy Ghana. We owe it to our friends, relatives and loved ones, who died avoidable deaths.

There will always be a loser

Ironing my clothes this morning, I heard a radio presenter announce that Man City’s Coach, Robert Mancini, had complained bitterly about the refereeing of the Chelsea – Man City match. According to the report, Mancini remonstrated passionately, citing as examples, a series of questionable decisions by referee Mark Clattenburg, that resulted in Chelsea’s unexpected win.

 

Subconsciously, to relieve me from the tedium of ironing, I slipped into a daydream, where Robert Mancini and Man City fans, declared themselves the winners of the game and streamed onto the Stamford Bridge pitch to celebrate. Chelsea fans outraged, converged on the field to protest the unilateral declaration of winning by Robert Mancini. The referee sensing danger, escaped into the Chelsea fans but outraged Man City fans followed him into the Chelsea fans and dragged him out. Violence ensued between both sides and with TV cameras focused on the unfolding events, the whole of the soccer world, paused momentarily to follow events on their TV’s, PC’s, iPads and mobile phones. There were even fans in the stands filming and streaming the proceedings live with their iPad2’s . . . . . . . . . .

Inflamed by the violence on the pitch, fans of both clubs, poured out on the streets of the United Kingdom, to protest and declare themselves winners of the game. This led to running battles and the Police were called in. As tends to happen in fluid situations like this, the Police had to resort to using overpowering force to subdue the violence. Injuries were sustained, and images of bloodied supporters were broadcast live to a global audience. Politicians, footballers and coaches from other clubs and countries waded into the imbroglio, some taking the side of Mancini and casting aspersions on the referee and his conduct of the match. They encouraged Mancini to remain on the streets to fight for his rights and accused the Police of using undue violence against the Man City fans.

The situation looked like it was deteriorating uncontrollably until Rrrrrrrrrrrrrring!! My mobile phone rang. My mom regular as clockwork, had called to check on her son. Well he was so fine, he was daydreaming. Her son quickly snapped back to reality but the daydream or rather daymare had been so vivid, it had seemed real. Thankfully it had not been reality. I reflected on it and the incongruity of it all jumped up and out at me. It was simply ridiculous to visualize Roberto Mancini declaring himself winner of the soccer match. It was even more ridiculous to imagine Mancini and Man City storming angrily and self-righteously to the nearest courtroom to lodge a lawsuit against the English FA. Rules were rules and no matter how unfair the rules or certain refereeing decisions were, the rules of the game had to be followed. And followed they always were. Because it was just a game of football. I repeat, it was just a game of football. There was simply no point risking life and limb to protest what might have seemed an unfair decision.

Last year, during the World Cup, Ghana and Africa narrowly missed out on creating soccer history. An individual, whose name I cannot bring myself to mention, used his hand to prevent Ghana from scoring a goal. Irrespective of the emotions surrounding that incident, unfair as the circumstances surrounding them were, Ghana and Uruguay respected the rules of the game. We moved on. Nobody was physically hurt. Yes emotions were ruffled and pride was lost but not a limb nor life was lost. And that for me, was the most important thing.Emotions, ego's and pride are like foam mattresses. They might get bruised, dented or trampled upon but given time, they regain their former state. This regrettably is not the case with physical injury or death.

Steering this monologue to the topic of elections on our beloved continent, it is with similar incredulity that peaceful and progressive peoples throughout the world observe Africa and its politics. Just like soccer matches are used to determine winners and losers, elections are democracy’s method of determining the winners from the losers. There are rules governing democracy and elections, just as rules exist governing soccer, that all participants have to abide by. Elections are held every so often and just like soccer matches, they are never perfect. Mistakes are made, by politicians, voters and electoral officials alike. Certain decisions by those overseeing elections are taken. But unlike soccer, it is slowly becoming fashionable to disregard the rules governing elections and the decisions of the electoral referees.

An interesting aspect of elections worldwide recently has been that, results of elections are always close. This suggests there will always be teeming hordes behind the winner and equally teeming hordes behind the loser. And once there is no overwhelming majority, in the election results or in the numbers of supporters on one side or the other, the tendency is for these situations to drag on. Difficult as it sometimes is, we must all collectively learn to accept the results of elections as announced or determined by electoral referees. Whatever spirit or mindset that enables us to accept the results of soccer matches, and trudge home or back to our daily lives, either happy or sad, we must employ towards election results.

Dr Afari-Gyan is Ghana’s and possibly, Africa’s most experienced political referee. Judging by the copious quantities and questionable quality of the rhetoric as well as demagoguery in circulation, Ghana has possibly one of the most anticipated and most contested political soccer matches in less than 12 months time. There will be rules governing that political soccer match. We must all start psyching ourselves to participate in that match, in the spirit of the game. We must all start psyching ourselves to respect the rules of the game and accept the results of that match, irrespective of who wins or who loses.

At the end of it all, it will be just a game. Just like Chelsea and Man City was just another game, Election 2012 will just be another election in the Premier League of Ghana's political history. There will only be one winner if we respect the rules of the game. There will only be one loser if we don’t respect the rules of the game.

That winner or that loser will be the Republic of Ghana.