Doctors In Vain Self-Adulation?

When I buy products and services, I am told it is business! When I sell my services, I am reminded that my service is humanitarian! This double-speak is harrowing! I recall the ridicule landlords, their lawyers and judges subjected me to when I defaulted in rent payment for my clinic! No consideration was given to the health implications for the community my hospital served should I be ejected and the clinic closed.

So I was ejected! Now the clinic was closed, and my skills stayed unuseful to patients. Liken this scenario to a Suicide Mission by the community....for my financial health cannot be comparable to the health of a whole community!

Yes! Rents require payment but give it a human face if your tenant uses your building as a clinic! For he does a humanitarian job! I am not a government doctor on strike...I am in the private sector....yet the end-points are identical! Lack of societal kindness to its doctors has compelled them to be unable to serve it...public or private!

Those nations that expect so much from doctors, see in what esteem they hold them....the Ebola-infested American doctors for instance. And no snide remarks from their fellow citizens! Responsible societies equip their soldiers with bullet-proof vests and helmets before sending them to"face bullets"

They give them air cover. They do prior reconnaissance to determine enemy strength. They spend huge funds on latest communication gadgets to eavesdrop and break enemy codes. They insure their soldiers and ensure their families are taken care off should they be killed at war. They go the extra mile to rehabilitate them should they suffer injuries at war!

Just how far is the Nigerian society ready to protect and reassure its doctors before sending them out on this Ebola War?! What fraction of the Communal Risk is an Average Nigerian ready to take? Self-adulation is not when persons are compelled to negotiate...for their dues. Our various comments form vital parts of such negotiations. So when you go to the negotiating table, you Table Your Strengths, Attributes and Advantages!

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