When A Doctor Speaks...

Industrial actions by medical doctors in Nigeria have never and will probably never be greeted by cheers from the general public. By industrial actions I am specifically referring to strikes. The usual trend is that in the first few days, the public may understand or even sympathize with the doctors and focus on the ineptitude of the sitting government for not being able to avert the action. This goodwill however burns out quickly as stories of people who lost loved ones from closed public hospitals filter in. At that point, the doctors are reminded of all the oaths they swore and how they are 'allopathic' by the same public that was hurling abuses at government a few hours earlier. The streets are simply not loyal. 

There are typically no victors or vanquished at the end of the day. Strikes usually occur at a price of human lives. This in my opinion simply reflects the value Nigerians place on human life. By Nigerians, I am referring to the generality of people who hold the green passport and NOT medical doctors singly. It cuts across board really and the doctors are just cut from that same fabric so why are we surprised?

I stumbled on an acerbic anti-Nigerian doctors post on Facebook recently and the interesting feature was the way the writer opened his essay with the names he will be called by doctors for expressing his opinion. He said he knew he would be called things like 'bastard' and 'idiot' so he started by first ascribing all the derogatory words to himself before going on. This made me very ashamed. To his credit, he was spot on as the comments at the end of the post were exactly as he anticipated. His prescience was quite remarkable and the doctors fell right into the trap. They took him to the cleaners for writing such and replied him with a truckload of obscenities. I was going to leave a mild admonishing comment on the post for my 'esteemed colleagues' but I didn't think it was the right forum to engage them. Unfortunately, most of the culpable ones on the day will probably never visit this blog.

I don't think doctors help their cause much with such caustic engagements with 'laymen' on social media. The man out of his ignorance of the circumstances surrounding the strike has drawn first blood by insulting doctors publicly. How does hurling back abuses solve anything? As a matter of fact, I think it's shameful that doctors make such unguarded statements and use such foul language in social circles. You are supposed to be a DOCTOR! That is perhaps the most noble of ALL professions. Getting into the ring with people who don't know better reduces you to their level instantly. Winston Churchill aptly submits that you will never reach your destination if you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks. You simply must not dignify every opinion with a response! It is akin to fighting a mad man in the market square and you expect people around to decipher which of the two fighters is the insane one.

In fact, our elders say 'he who is clad in white clothes does not fight a man carrying palm oil'. The internet never forgets so we must be extremely cautious when we address seeming aggressors. We make the same mistake time and time again. Our profession naturally has an aura of dignity and class and it is bad enough that Nigerians think strikes are solely for higher salaries and thus quickly brand the herd as 'greedy'. Even when other health workers go on strike, ask the average market woman who visits the hospital and she'll tell you 'Won ni awon doctor da ise le' i.e. 'they say the doctors are on strike' even when it is JOHESU. We then compound our problems by reducing ourselves repeatedly to the level of the same people we claim and are supposed to be 'better than'?

Please note that because of the peculiarity of the entity called Nigeria, it is probably impossible to avert strikes in the health sector. I have also NOT said doctors should not go on strike if it is necessary to get government's attention. All I have said is some decorum is not too much to ask of a medical doctor. We must conduct ourselves in a manner befitting and becoming of this calling. Engage constructively. Seek to understand rather than reply. Seek to educate where necessary. Using gutter language and sounding like a bus conductor is simply not good enough.

The basic medical curriculum needs a review in my opinion. We need to incorporate some poise and finishing into doctors training in Nigerian medical schools. I agree that it may be from a faulty foundation at pre-tertiary level. This does not still preclude that fact that it can be learned. It is not enough to have knowledge and be incongruous and brash. There's a common saying that knowledge is knowing WHAT to say while wisdom is knowing WHEN and HOW to say it. Also remember that the good book says in Proverbs that 'Wisdom (not knowledge) is the principal thing'. This review in medical curriculum should also include courses in diction, public speaking and relations and must be as vital a prerequisite as the core medical courses in conferment of degrees. I say this because I've heard some doctors speak and I was amazed. Last week, the NMA in Lagos sent a representative to a Channels TV morning show to update the public on the strike and his performance was abysmal. 

Strikes are here to stay in Nigeria. Not because the doctors are the devil's first cousins or because they are greedy. It is simply because they are Nigerians. And in Nigeria, there is simply no value for human life. From the government that leaves the hospitals and schools derelict to the policeman who will cock his rifle to shoot motorists who refuse to park for stop and search to the bus driver who over-speeds with passengers aboard to make many trips to the importer who uses yam flour to make diabetic drugs to the manufacturer who reduced the number of sardines in Titus from four in 2010 to two in 2014 because of bad economy. We are all the same.

If we must go on strike, we should at least manage the action effectively. That is the very least we can do for our dignity.

P.S...

The 'first' death from Ebola in Lagos was recorded during the week. Don't ask me why I put first in parentheses. Now that we know the virus has reached our shores, please take extra precaution with your personal hygiene. 
Whether you think it's a melodramatic cry of wolf where there's none or you have a standing covenant with Heaven that it's not your portion, it is still your hygiene anyway. So you will only benefit more from making it better, with or without the Ebola scare. So, wash your hands properly and as often as you can. There is a technique for hand-washing as recommended by the WHO, look it up. In the mean time, get hand sanitizers and use them copiously. With the nationwide strike, I'm not quite sure where suspected cases are supposed to report to but there are some contact numbers circulating in the media, do well to get them especially if you're particularly at risk. My worry is that the symptoms are rather non-specific so diagnosis from history taking may be difficult but still get checked out. 

More than before, I will stand in faith with Nigerian churchgoers on this one. It is well. It just has to be because the last thing we need in our virtual healthcare system is such a viral outbreak. I agree that we may not be the best people in the world but fate can certainly be kinder to us with all we are grappling with already.

May God help us.