By Matteo Trombini E Block English

This very instant, thousands of people in Africa are dying due to the lack of adequate medical assistance. People, who live in developed nations, have access to a hospital or clinical center which will assist you medically. According to the World Health Organization, 10,000 people living in Nigeria have access to only 4 physicians (128). Many people in Africa clearly are not living in a condition appropriate for life. The definition of health is: A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO, 5). Nations in all parts of the world should be striving to achieve this; it should be standard throughout the world. There are many reasons for why people in Africa have poor medical assistance, one being government corruption, minimal amount of access to modern medicine, and the lack of educated and experienced physicians. Countries in Africa dont always have access to modern medicine, which directly affects the health of the public. The World Health Organization states that only 21% of selected generic medicines are available to the public of Congo. This means that many general medicines that people in developed countries take for granted, are either not available or very difficult to find in some countries. According to Dr. Foley Ronan, 30 percent of children die before their fifth birthday in Niger (8). These statistics are directly connected to the lack of clean water, good medicines, cheap health care and healthy food (Dr. Foley, 7). Clean drinking water is directly proportional to the life expectancy of a person. In Ethiopia, Africa, 56 percent of the population does not have access to improved drinking water-sources (WHO, 32). This means that approximately 47 million people will live a dramatically shorter life due to the lack of clean water. However, there is lots of hope for people in Africa, every day. In South Africa, the Medicines Control Council is who decides which medicines will be available to the general public. As Allafrica.com stated on the 17 of April: A promising new drug currently on trial offers the last hope for some patients with pre-extensively drug resistant XDR tuberculosis, and the life or death decision on whether to make it available rests with the Medicines Control Council (MCC). The medicine is still in trials; however this drug has the potential to cure thousands of people with tuberculosis. There is hope every day for sick people, however medicine is not the only thing which has the ability to improve someone life.

Government corruption is a major reason for poor medical assistance in Africa. Too many governments are wrongfully spending massive amounts of money on non-important reasons, instead of procuring the public with much needed medicines and health-care. If countries have corruption in the health sector, this literally means the difference between life and death. The lower-class portions of people are the ones worse affected by these actions. Transparency International reported: Medical staff can charge unofficial fees to attend to patients. They may demand bribes for medication which should be free. Or they may let patients who bribe them queue-jump. Corruption also costs lives when fake or adulterated medications are sold to health services. Therefore, it is not only government officials who are corrupt, but also the medical staff themselves. Health care and medicine is a huge global industry, a responsibility and budget expense for all governments. It is their obligation to provide enough resources to keep the health care sector stable. However, it is not just another sector governments spend money on; good health is a global human right. Corruption robs people of medical assistance, which many times results in death. Corruption in the healthcare sector can erode public trust in the medical profession (T.I.). The United States of America spends more on healthcare than any other industrialized nation (app. 16.3 percent of it GDP). Medicare and Medicaid (US Health Care Programs) estimate that approximately 5-10 percent of their budget is lost to overpayment (T.I.) In Cambodia, physicians approximate that more than 5 percent of the health care sector budget is lost due to corruption, before it even leaves the central government. BBC reported that: In some Cameroonian public hospitals, patients say they have to put some money in the doctor's consultation book before they are attended to. This kind of activity in Africa, directly affects their reputation and health statuses. For instance, imagine a patient who just so happens to be very un-wealthy, he is desperately waiting in the hospital as his wife is about to go into labor. The doctors will not attend the wife as they have no money to bribe them. In Zambia, former President Fredrick Chiluba is facing corruption charges for offences he allegedly committed during his term in office (BBC, Corruption). Corruption has affected many peoples lives in Africa, and in to many cases results in deaths, which could have been easily avoided. Many clinics and hospitals in Africa dont have fully experienced and educated physicians to their disposition. However, when they do, physicians reportedly charge

considerably higher than what they are supposed to, and also do not diagnose a patient without a bribe (T.I.) Dr. Foley Ronan believes that cheap health care in Africa is definitely key to ending poor medical assistance. If someone in Africa does come across a clinic with cheap health care, it is sadly very possible that this clinic does not offer completely official and/or real medicine. Experts in gynecology and obstetrics encourage Nigerian doctors to take the initiative of updating their diagnostic skills to provide optimal care when diagnosing their patients. At the workshop organized by Nordica Fertility Clinic, Lagos/Asaba, for obstetricians and gynecologists practicing within the Nigerian environment, the medical expert argued that the essence of skills updating in medical practice was ultimately for the benefit of the patient (allafrica.com). In efforts to better educate the physicians, India has launched a hi-tech project, which will provide medical education and better health care in Africa. (BBC, India) The project has been initiated by Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi; the project will initially connect 11 countries in Africa with India. This link-up will provide virtual classes to medical staff and also online medical consultations. Patients in parts of rural Africa will be able to seek medical help from Indian Physicians via fiber-optic connections (high speed internet). Nurses will have the opportunity to get training; virtual classrooms will help approximately 10,000 African students annually get specialized degrees from universities. Even more, online medical consultations will be provided every day for one hour to isolated hospitals. Today, millions of African people have died due poor medical assistance. The poor medical assistance is as a result of various things including government corruption, lack of modern medicine and limited amounts of educated physicians. Government corruption first handedly affects health care patients. Furthermore, due to this corruption, lower-class African citizens cannot afford a doctor, and many times have to wait hours, maybe days just to get a diagnosis. Physicians in Africa get bribed almost every time, leaving un-wealthy citizens to suffer longer, and unjustly. Modern medicine is very scarce in Africa, and seemingly only wealthy people can get ahold of it. However, it is not just medicine which is scarce, water is too. In Ethiopia, 56% of the population does not have access to improved water sources. This directly affects their health. Additionally, there is a serious lack of educated physicians in Africa. However, many things are being done to solve these issues. For example, raising awareness, like this very essay. Also, Indian doctors are offering their

services to African clinics and patients. You can do something on your own part too, there are hundreds of organizations which allow you to donate money, and you may literally save a human life.

By Matteo Trombini

Work Cited Page Dr. Foley, Ronan. World Health - The Impact on Our Lives. New York: Raintree SteckVaughn Publishers, 2003 Health. 4/2012 Transparency International. 18/05/2012 <http://www.transparency.org/topic/detail/health>. "How deep is corruption in Africa?." BBC News British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 06 2004. 22/5/2012 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3819027.stm>. Rahman, Sunil. "India in Africa medical link-up." BBC News British Broadcasting Corporation. 27 02 2009. 22/05/2012 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7915294.stm>.

Thom, Anso. "South Africa: MCC Urged to Make Drug Available." allAfrica allafrica.com. 17 04 2012. 21/05/2012 <http://allafrica.com/stories/201204170782.html>.

WHO. 2012 World Health Organization. 17/5/2012 <http://www.who.int/en/>.