When Pharm. Olumide Akintayo, the president of Pharmaceutical Society
of Nigeria a renowned JOHESU Warlord recently alleged that Nigerian
Doctors are trying to force the Hippocratic order of Medicine on other
paramedical professionals in Nigeria when they insist that Doctors must
continue to lead the medical team. First, as an activist, it made some
sense to me, but on second thought, my mind went to World Health
Organization (WHO) the United Nations Human Right Arm of Health.
This took me to the year precisely April, 1948 when the man George Brock Chisholm from Canada became the first Director General (DG) of WHO winning with a vote of 46-2. This great man was initially a soldier with Canadian Expeditionary Force, who out of his passion for medicine and because medicine is not hereditary, struggled to earn for himself Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University of Toronto, he was a renowned Medical Doctor with psychiatry bias. He led WHO till 1953.
To fill the vacancy created by Brock Chisholm’s exit, another man Marcolino Gomes Candau a Brazilian, was elected to head WHO for the next twenty years. He was a medical doctor that graduated from the state of Rio de Janeiro, University of Brazil and Johns Hopkins University.
When Gomes Candau left in 1973, another man a Danish Medical Doctor Halfan Mahler was made the DG of WHO. He was to give us the historic Alma-Ata Declaration, and led the organization for the next fifteen years.
After the exit of Mahler in 1988, there came another medical doctor from Japan by name Hiroshi Nakajima who graduated from medicine at the Tokyo Medical University . it is of importance to note that when Hiroshi was employed in 1994 at WHO, he was the scientist in charge of Drug Evaluation and monitoring which led to his being made in 1976, the Head of WHO Drug Policies and Management where he pioneered the concept of today’s essential drugs.
In Nigeria today, if a doctor who by training been endowed to be versatile in drugs and therapeutics is made the head of such parastatal, JOHESU will call for earthquake, it has become a crime in Nigeria for a doctor to oversee the council that formulates the training of nurses or even hospital cleaners. So sad!!
After Hiroshi’s exit in 1998 came another Medical Colossus, the Norwegian Iron lady Gro Harlem Brundtland who headed WHO from 1998 to 2003. Brundtland’s first choice of carrier was neither to be an Environmentalist or Politician, but to be a doctor like her father. She was a Specialist in Rehabilitation Medicine and is good to note that this lady served three terms as Norways Prime Minister.
In 2003, another new head was appointed to lead WHO, the great Dr Lee Gong-Wook. Lee was the first Korean to lead an international agency. A medical doctor who also obtained a medical degree at Seoul National University. Lee tenure was rudely cut short by his untimely death in 2006.
Following the sudden death of Dr Lee, another acting head was appointed to lead WHO from May 2006 to January 2007 by name Anders Nordstrom. Also Anders was a medical graduate of karolinska Institut Sweden, who prior his DG appointment was WHO’s Assistant DG and has a background that combines development experience in the field, National and International Health Policy and Planning, and Strategic leadership.
After this short interregnum of Lee’s death , a substantive DG, Dr Margaret Chan was appointed and she resumed duties in January, 2007. Dr Chan who is the current WHO, was previously trained as a Home Economist, but for her love and passion for medicine, had to go to the University of Western Ontario for her medical circumcision where she qualified as a medical doctor in 1977 after which she joined the Hong Kong government in 1978 as a Medical Officer.
So why the noise about the imperialistic nature of Nigerian Medical Association? Why is it that the black Africans only way of reaching the outer space is by witchcraft? What is wrong in our continent in doing the needful in encouraging our scientist to first gain the expertise that will aid us build a spacecraft? How can our noble brothers and amiable sisters who are Pharmacists and Nurses choose to form gangsterish association with hospital cleaners, laborers, porters and security men whose sole aim is to find a way of bringing down the laboring Hippocratic order of medicine in this amorphous assembly of JOHESU (Joint Health Sector Union) or simply put “Joe Hates U”?
While one cannot be blind to the corruption being seen among the various heads of our health institutions where some Medical Directors have become even more administratively horrible and financially corrupt like the mere rogues that abound in our political landscape, that will never be allowed for the excuse to water down the hierarchical order of the noble medical profession.
Like in any other profession of the world, there are men who have administrative and academic excellence as their watch word, such doctors should be given leadership positions instead of the government trying to turn the revered medical profession into a banana republic where porters want to be called medical consultants in “medical porterring” thereby confusing our already disoriented patients.
Let’s be proud of who we are in this nation as professionals and strive to be who we we want to be through the legally available means.
If WHO can as a standard United Nations Health Organization have a respected order of who becomes who, why is our health ministry getting confused on how to maintain order in the health sector.
Even if wishes were horses,
Catholic Catechists can never be called Archbishops!! Ka Chineke Mezie Okwu!!!!
This took me to the year precisely April, 1948 when the man George Brock Chisholm from Canada became the first Director General (DG) of WHO winning with a vote of 46-2. This great man was initially a soldier with Canadian Expeditionary Force, who out of his passion for medicine and because medicine is not hereditary, struggled to earn for himself Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University of Toronto, he was a renowned Medical Doctor with psychiatry bias. He led WHO till 1953.
To fill the vacancy created by Brock Chisholm’s exit, another man Marcolino Gomes Candau a Brazilian, was elected to head WHO for the next twenty years. He was a medical doctor that graduated from the state of Rio de Janeiro, University of Brazil and Johns Hopkins University.
When Gomes Candau left in 1973, another man a Danish Medical Doctor Halfan Mahler was made the DG of WHO. He was to give us the historic Alma-Ata Declaration, and led the organization for the next fifteen years.
After the exit of Mahler in 1988, there came another medical doctor from Japan by name Hiroshi Nakajima who graduated from medicine at the Tokyo Medical University . it is of importance to note that when Hiroshi was employed in 1994 at WHO, he was the scientist in charge of Drug Evaluation and monitoring which led to his being made in 1976, the Head of WHO Drug Policies and Management where he pioneered the concept of today’s essential drugs.
In Nigeria today, if a doctor who by training been endowed to be versatile in drugs and therapeutics is made the head of such parastatal, JOHESU will call for earthquake, it has become a crime in Nigeria for a doctor to oversee the council that formulates the training of nurses or even hospital cleaners. So sad!!
After Hiroshi’s exit in 1998 came another Medical Colossus, the Norwegian Iron lady Gro Harlem Brundtland who headed WHO from 1998 to 2003. Brundtland’s first choice of carrier was neither to be an Environmentalist or Politician, but to be a doctor like her father. She was a Specialist in Rehabilitation Medicine and is good to note that this lady served three terms as Norways Prime Minister.
In 2003, another new head was appointed to lead WHO, the great Dr Lee Gong-Wook. Lee was the first Korean to lead an international agency. A medical doctor who also obtained a medical degree at Seoul National University. Lee tenure was rudely cut short by his untimely death in 2006.
Following the sudden death of Dr Lee, another acting head was appointed to lead WHO from May 2006 to January 2007 by name Anders Nordstrom. Also Anders was a medical graduate of karolinska Institut Sweden, who prior his DG appointment was WHO’s Assistant DG and has a background that combines development experience in the field, National and International Health Policy and Planning, and Strategic leadership.
After this short interregnum of Lee’s death , a substantive DG, Dr Margaret Chan was appointed and she resumed duties in January, 2007. Dr Chan who is the current WHO, was previously trained as a Home Economist, but for her love and passion for medicine, had to go to the University of Western Ontario for her medical circumcision where she qualified as a medical doctor in 1977 after which she joined the Hong Kong government in 1978 as a Medical Officer.
So why the noise about the imperialistic nature of Nigerian Medical Association? Why is it that the black Africans only way of reaching the outer space is by witchcraft? What is wrong in our continent in doing the needful in encouraging our scientist to first gain the expertise that will aid us build a spacecraft? How can our noble brothers and amiable sisters who are Pharmacists and Nurses choose to form gangsterish association with hospital cleaners, laborers, porters and security men whose sole aim is to find a way of bringing down the laboring Hippocratic order of medicine in this amorphous assembly of JOHESU (Joint Health Sector Union) or simply put “Joe Hates U”?
While one cannot be blind to the corruption being seen among the various heads of our health institutions where some Medical Directors have become even more administratively horrible and financially corrupt like the mere rogues that abound in our political landscape, that will never be allowed for the excuse to water down the hierarchical order of the noble medical profession.
Like in any other profession of the world, there are men who have administrative and academic excellence as their watch word, such doctors should be given leadership positions instead of the government trying to turn the revered medical profession into a banana republic where porters want to be called medical consultants in “medical porterring” thereby confusing our already disoriented patients.
Let’s be proud of who we are in this nation as professionals and strive to be who we we want to be through the legally available means.
If WHO can as a standard United Nations Health Organization have a respected order of who becomes who, why is our health ministry getting confused on how to maintain order in the health sector.
Even if wishes were horses,
Catholic Catechists can never be called Archbishops!! Ka Chineke Mezie Okwu!!!!
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