Keeping a sturdy head
Global confusion today increasingly makes it the more difficult to keep a sturdy head. Neither Socrates nor Confucius would want to ponder and explain. Even for those ‘’Thinkers’’ their impediments consist of rate of breaking news and the location of the next eruption. Russia sabre rattles on Finland accession to NATO, Ukraine on-going a social media’s going viral on what US-led West redone, strict conditions for the rest in an intangible ‘’Marshall Plan’’ for the rest of us to sign-qualify ‘fine relations’’ with them. It orders ‘’you submit-subscribe-practice laissez faire-wise, their culture –kulturkampf to score favourable relations into ‘’most favoured’’ diplomatic status. Memory snaps back to the height of NLM ‘’mate meho’ or meaning ‘’I secede’’ years of the 1954-56 and their popular anti-Nkrumah war cry , a pale of Oliver Twist’s : ’’Kwame Nkrumah nkw…sem yi a, yentie’’, we won’t listen to accept the nuisance from Kwame Nkrumah ‘.
Including the simile, these have made up the whirlwind swamping international relations in seemingly torrents of relentless waves to put world affairs in under-feet un-ebbing eddies and drownful-swirls over a serious but simple ‘talk-over a cuppa’ –a matter like invocation of WHO’s ‘’2010-edict’’ which has upset 54 nations including this country. A deeper reading translates ‘advisory’ potentially rather than compelling encyclical that might have been issued from the Vatican.
Recent news recently said the WHO had cracked the whip on the countries to ban recruitment of health workers into Britain, ostensibly abroad. It has since been corrected. But the denial of a ‘’ban’’ into ‘’non-active recruitment’’ derived in the original ‘2010-instruct’, assumed quite enough casus belli. At home, the MoH has reportedly said it is no such on the ground, relatively here; but WHO Reps had been asked to explain–to dust up, sort of. Before moving forward, there was a snippet about UK’s Health Union’s pressure . But on whom and for or against limps on precision. Then our MoH spokesperson was said to quote the Minister being disconcerted. It must be deductively about the leaving health professionals going. Does anyone remember their being bonded? It fizzled or does it. ?
WHO is said to make a distinction which says the interdiction freezes privates—the Recruitment Agencies. It could be a ‘no-win’ quadratic because it cites health pros shortages in the listed countries. This treks the problem into labour conflicts, assuming it works. I believe it issues retrenchment and takes food off the table for an unquantifiable many ultimately—the migrants and Agencies’ workers at home, unlike abroad where ‘’Welfare’’ could provide some cushions. A consequential comment would indict WHO for about-face on its undergirding raison d’etre—a practical side of ‘’mens sana in copore sano [a sound mind in a sound body]. On the level ground it means taking food from others’ mouth, an anathema taught me by my mother’s paternal grandma—Nana Aku [Elizabeth Hagan (Anomabu, Accra Sempe royalty and Njeduamu, Jackson Street, Cape Coast).
Greater well notated is that the chief reason given is that persons traveling out would send home beefs-up. It is a possible discount excuse today replaced by ‘’things are hard-alibi’’; similarly also deterring into uneasy reluctance by the are two predators, the scammers and the fear of prowling phone looters, on ruthless rampage. Generally, those who get there do remit partly; and the stats give no joy of the flow from that source of drips into national kitties. However, within the corridors of uncertainty, we need not underplay the aspect of quality of our trained lot in the medical field. They are a priceless gem and superb advertisement for our country abroad.
It is pertinent to reflect a lid on the story from when Prof C.O.Easmon went back to inform President Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah that establishing a medical school here was a ‘’task impossible’’. Kwame ordered him back to get it done. It was achieved. It should be explained that the initial shilly-shally was caused by political shenanigan-undercurrents then. The Establishment with its inexorable expansions both wonderful, whatever its foibles today; and have great mentions which is why these particular professionals after the Diplomats are world-wide sought. I would better preamble my next in processing thoughts with a recall of tip of what occurred latter 60s in London at 38 Queensgate, the Education office of the High Commission.
The Minister of Health [I think he was an Owusu Afriyie]. He met with our medical students including those from North and South Irelands including state scholarship holders and privates. The boot was on the other foot in the sense we urgently needed the qualified back home to fill in the growing deficit. The boot on other foot explains that we train them and see them go—supply the shortages out there. The Minister’s brief was to persuade them to return. A thunder question that stuck was the level of take-home. The Minister duly stated it. Then the shocker: Q: What did you say…how much? The Minister repeated the figure. Instant response: ‘’that won’t feed my dog’’. To fill in, President Nkrumah was advised to seek assistance from Asian Commonwealth colleagues India and Pakistan augmented by sprinkler of Cubans.
It hit beached on intractable seeming hole –language and eventually, the country had to had reported ratio of 1,000 to One Doctor. Somehow that colossus impregnated [i] usage of traditional medicine, despite infuriating conservative orthodoxy, medics and politicians. We still aren’t reconciled ourselves altogether in genuine embrace—the stats far off par. Reasons are [i] attractions of ‘greener pasture’ and attitudes laced in politics as our things have taken on affiliation colorations as critical criteria, allegedly for positions, ugly controversy-inducive. [ii] Created the greater advances for East European assistants in training medics and aeronautics. Both had harsh politicking here during the NLC tenure. [The national Liberation Council Feb 1966-Oct 1969]. The more frustrating though is the cloudy meaning between ‘’active recruitment’’ and a professional’s choice. Are there or is there a distinction—going on my own or through a third party. Compounding or complicating the departures, the WHO points to deficits in the 54 countries listed.
Unless it is impossible, WHO having studied the dilemma of migrant and the gaps of the developed countries could now try Round Tables with all concerned. The remits might be [i] study comprehensive health policies of each; [ii] emphasising the population growth scales, hyping training to meet the demographics; [iii] singularly or co-jointly fight to extinct (a) common diseases fighting squalor and (b) direct the ordinary to specialised fields . It is possible then to imagine WHO boosting ‘Flying Doctors’ exchanges in between the countries, itself civil-service-type operations transformed and the entire project schemed to gradually meet both desperate shortages and steadily bring the migrations to a canter.
The projections are capable of fixing that deadline to make this an institution with two addresses: regularising the kind of transfer of technology and personnel from the same. The political gains are defusing the moaning-racism, encouraging developed and developing countries learning and install a roll-on experiences-sharing –[mass genocides war graves exhumations-model—Yugoslavia and Chad] and removes the headaches hitherto in time. Face it, it is a jinx and sphinx problem for all the sides. Actually, some of the UN Agencies look like candidates for reformation Funding? The likelier upshot immediate futurely, is that when everyone seems to realise the WHO is distancing itself from another super-power bureaucracy into global health watchman, subscriptions would be euphoric sine qua duty.
On a more serious footage, there is a speculative suspicion that the organisation could be being proxy to a wider plan to stampede the ‘’have-nots’’ [just check the 54 mix cursorily] into submitting to LBGTQ and abolition of capital punishment. Ugandan President Uweri Museveni was asked by the visiting US Vice-President Kamala Harris, if he was worried about threatened sanctions about his country legally loathing LBGTQ. Kamala: ‘’Are you worried’’? Museveni replied ‘’NO’’—keeping a sturdy sense for ‘’native [African] values’’ preferentially. It is fine if WHO is not suspect. A tenuous link up prompts apparently looks like referring WHO to read back copies of UNESCO’s mis-adventure on the free flow of international news exchanges.
Specifically, to Ghana, the MoH spokesperson ventriloquised the Minister’s claims for improvements in the sector, apparently a point of non-clarity if WHO was or had complained in explaining Ghana’s inclusion. Possibly, WHO and MoH-Ghana have a job to clear up that ambiguity. Perhaps the unfortunate probability might be the corona vaccines, quarrels about accounting. But these can’t be remotely connected with a subtle or plain do-gooder effort to bolt the entries doors. It hardly looks a strategy which could overwhelm the gates. Talking together, would be best, barring, reporting only, this new impostor LBGTQ .
It was learned also that Kamala was accompanied by her husband during the recent Africa hustings on it. She spoke consistently as her credo that it is a human right issue. But she had predicated that on ‘’my work among’ those groups without describing even briefly what that portfolio entailed—was it on the rehab aspect supportive and why either. Recall her Boss now but candidate then, Joe Biden confronted in the campaign, said there were other more pressing matters. He is a Roman Catholic, church devoutly opposed.
Prof. Nana Essilfie-Conduah