Mr. Manneh,
Sorry to hear about your younger brother going thru' such trauma. Wishing
him a quick recovery!
As a word of consolation: to non-medical people what may seem lethal may
turn out to be a trifle in the eyes of the professionals. Take it from me
that a majority of those who have taken The Hippocratic Oath will never want
to lose a single life! Your brother's case is a very typical scenario under
third world conditions. Another factor is having seen a lot of trauma and of
course blood, many Doctors are 'not moved' so to speak. A woman might be
dying from septicemia(beautiful word, but lethal) and the gynaecologist
knowing he/she cannot save the delivering/pregnant woman will seldom go into
frenzy! That does not make them cold-hearted! I think the nurse at the
Serrekunda Health Centre did a great job, by giving him the drip. And the
Cuban Dr, if he had assessed your brother's condition as critical, would
have kept him. This of course does not justify the hardships encountered by
our people on a daily basis when seeking health care.
Be strong!
Sanyang.
The Hippocratic Oath
You do solemnly swear, each by whatever he or she holds most sacred
That you will be loyal to the Profession of Medicine and just and generous
to its members
That you will lead your lives and practice your art in uprightness and honor
That into whatsoever house you shall enter, it shall be for the good of the
sick to the utmost of your power, your holding yourselves far aloof from
wrong, from corruption, from the tempting of others to vice
That you will exercise your art solely for the cure of your patients, and
will give no drug, perform no operation, for a criminal purpose, even if
solicited, far less suggest it
That whatsoever you shall see or hear of the lives of men or women which is
not fitting to be spoken, you will keep inviolably secret
These things do you swear. Let each bow the head in sign of acquiescence
And now, if you will be true to this, your oath, may prosperity and good
repute be ever yours; the opposite, if you shall prove yourselves forsworn.
-This oath is a version approved by the American Medical Association.
>From: Dave Manneh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: The Phantom Hospitals and soccer-crazed Doctors
>Date: Thu, 16 May 2002 10:45:54 +0100
>
They got him into Serre Kunda
>Hospital/Health Centre at 17:00GMT.By 19:00
>a young nurse came in and saw his condition and was shocked that he had not
>been seen to. She immediately asked for him to be taken inside. She put him
>on a drip and sat him on a chair. The doctor asked for Bekai to be taken
>into the "theatre", but as it has
>always the case the whole evening, there was no specialist to operate the
>machinery. He then looked at Bekai's injured head, cleaned and dressed it.
>That stopped the bleeding. He then looked at his face and mouth and
>exclaimed how swollen it was, and that unfortunately there were no free
>beds
>in the hospital for Bekai to stay overnight. Bekai was given some
>injections and some tablets to take. An hour passed and still the bed
>situation was unresolved, the doctor now asked them to take Bekai with them
>back home to Brufut and to return this morning.
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