KILLING OF FOREIGN HEALTH WORKERS

On Sunday, February 10, 2013, three North Korean (The Democratic People's Republic of Korea) doctors attached to Potiskum General Hospital were heinously killed in their rented quarters in Potiskum, Yobe State. Days earlier on Friday, February 8, gunmen had killed seven women administering polio vaccines in Kano & two in Borno State.

There is an international organization known as Doctors Without Borders. Their mission is to provide free medical care around the world to unreachable or difficult to reach places. When I was taking a course in Bible College in the United States called Missions 101, we were encouraged by stories of countless medical missionaries around the world who gave up their lives to fight global diseases in remote parts of the world. I can recall vividly wishing I had gone to medical school instead of law school. My ministry experience has led me to really appreciate the sage that “people don't care about how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

I have an older brother who is both an Associate Professor of medicine and a medical doctor abroad, with a vast specialization and expertise in fetal medicine. He and his colleagues are very amenable to helping alleviate the health conditions in Nigeria, but are of course concerned about the security situations in the country and the high degree of rot in the health care sector mostly occasioned by corruption.

In Nigeria, there are many people, who are opposed to our politicians travelling abroad for medical treatment, especially because of the capital flight involved. “The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Tuesday disclosed that Nigerians spent a whopping sum of N80 billion annually on medical treatment abroad.” See his website. We hope that our hospitals can be upgraded and if need be, bring the foreign medical professionals to Nigeria to train our own medical personnel.

So, imagine my chagrin to continually read about the killings of foreign & domestic medical workers in places such as Yobe, Borno & Kano. Apparently, three of the workers killed in Yobe were doctors from North Korea who have lived within the same community since 2005. Initially, I was appalled that terrorists could kill someone who has been their neighbor for almost eight (8) years, but then recalled that Boko Haram members have killed people that were their neighbors for over twenty years. In under one week, about twelve health workers were killed in Northern Nigeria. As was echoed by United Nation's Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, these killings will only result in limiting “access of essential health services to vulnerable people.”

Some of the killings were predicated on the issue of vaccination. Who in their right mind will be against the vaccination of a loved one, when such vaccination will not only prevent their death, but could also lead to a better quality of life? In Northern Nigeria, where these killings took place, there is a high rate of polio and other preventable diseases. Can a sane person reject western (or in this case eastern) knowledge of polio immunization and oppose a legitimate national polio eradication Programme? The level of illiteracy & ignorance in the North make it easier for people to believe many hogwash such as the belief that polio vaccine causes sterility.

Most foreign doctors that go to Nigeria or other developing countries, do so for truly altruistic reasons because many of them could be making more money in their home country.

I should mention that it is not only foreign health workers that are being killed or harassed. Nigerian doctors are also victims. As a result, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has called for better security for health workers or they will either boycott those areas or go on strike. The President of NMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, condemned the attack on health workers because they “are now a major threat to the medical profession and health care delivery in the country.”

However, the focus of this article is the killing of foreign doctors because of its international implications, especially in this current dispensation where bad news travels very fast through various media. To quote The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, the killing of three North Korean doctors in Yobe is "terrible and embarrassing to the nation".

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa also condemned the killings. As a medical doctor, he clearly understands the difficulty of fulfilling the Hippocratic oath under strenuous security conditions. The executive arm has also condemned the recent killing of health workers. In fact, at a recent Federal Executive Committee (FEC) meeting, the Minister of Health, Dr. Onyebuchi Chukwu stated that the FG has prioritized Polio eradication and that the FEC has also resolved to sanction any media organization used to incite the masses against polio vaccination. In addition, Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, said, “Following recent attacks on health workers in parts of the country, the IGP, M.D. Abubakar, has ordered special security for all medical personnel (Nigerians and expatriates) involved in immunization and other special medical tasks.” Hope it is implemented soon.

If we desire a better nation, we must immediately put a stop to the killing of health workers, especially foreign doctors. May God help us!

Prof Alex Osondu Atawa Akpodiete is an author, Computer Scientist, Educator, Consultant, lawyer, Political Analyst, Public affair analyst & Social commentator. He has a Doctorate degree in Jurisprudence from the US. He has lectured Law, Ethics and Security & Intelligence Studies at the University level here in Nigeria and US. He also writes for a state daily newspaper & national monthly journal. He currently divides his time between Nigeria and USA where he runs a PR and an international capacity-building firm ATAWA GROUP. Contact him on 08138391661 or Profatawa@gmail.com. He is also on Facebook and Twitter.