ABOUT THE KILLED PRESS MAN!

The news that an Editor of Newswatch Magazine fell to a hail of bullets hit me with a jolt! This again casts an odious shadow on the state of our heasthcare and security.

There in not so much "emergency" in a gunshot injury to the abdomen in a patient that was so stable, so conscious, so well orientated as to communicate lucidly with co-occupants of a non-ambulant vehicle between three widely-spaced hospitals who took two days to die.....as to justify the panicky knee-jerk reactions of the doctors at GH Ikorodu and GH Gbagada! What "vital" organs are in the abdomen to warrant those doctors in refusing to accept the patient, comfort him, stabilize him and probably refer! For staters, I suspect they were trying to avoid police "trouble"....and to a lesser extent, press "trouble"! But those are lame excuses. It was another precious life needlessly snuffed out in its prime. And this leads me to mention the horrible attitude of our press in matters of collective welfare. I recall my days as the Secretary of the Quackery Committee of the AGPMPN Lagos State when I approached three media houses to sensitize the citizenry against the dangers of medical quackery....in 1997. The editor at Tell Magazine refused to see me outright....after keeping me waiting in his reception for hours! Till this day, I am not so sure if my write-up was used to wipe his backsides! The people at LTV8 reworked my request to fit into a Yoruba debate program called "E da wa l'ohun" (anchored by Toyin Kawojue) in which I was pitched head-on against a traditional healer to discuss the pros and cons of both "brands" of medicine. To them, it was a mere academic exercise! And at AIT, in spite of being the first to arrive for "Kakaaki" on that day (as early as 5.30am as advised), I was the last attended. The case of AIT was particularly painful for as soon as one of the assistants whispered in Jika Attoh's ears that Femi Akintunde-Johnson was in the house, Jika's speech became so speedy one would think he had a ball of hot porridge in his mouth! It was a miracle I wasn't thrown off the set! FAJ was there to do a promo of yet another of his numerous awards! Yet, for many of my health-related posts, a copy is still sent to the press. When we take time out of our busy schedules to write for the lay public, it should not be construed that we are merely promoting our "businesses"!

Dr Tosin Akindele is a Lagos-based medical practitioner and good health advocate.

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Articles by Tosin Akindele