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Despots and medical treatment abroad
Ziyanai Shiripinda
June 18, 2012

I laughed at the irony when I learnt President Bingu wa Mutharika had been flown to South Africa from Malawi for emergency medical treatment after having a suspected cardiac arrest on 5 April this year. His own hospitals could not give him any chance of recovery. If the number one citizen of one of the poorest countries in the world doesn-t stand an iota of a chance of survival in his own hospitals, what more of his 13 million impoverished Malawian subjects. His people survive on less than $1 a day. How many of his subjects have passports to cross the border for treatment let alone funds to get to the nearest airport? I almost had a fit when I read on to learn that his own morgues wouldn-t have been hospitable enough for him because of the power cuts and lack of good refrigeration. His own mortuaries prepared to protest vehemently of his presence by making him rot faster, hence the decision to fly him to South Africa in the dead of the night for embalming. And then a countryman aptly sums it up for him and I quote, we know he is dead and unfortunately he died at a local, poor hospital which he never cared about - no drugs, no power," said Chimwemwe Phiri, a Lilongwe businessman waiting in a line of cars for fuel at a petrol station close quote. Meanwhile former president Bakili Muluzi is reported to have suspended his medical trip to South Africa to attend Mutharika-s funeral. Did this same man not preside over the death and decay of the medical instituitions in his country. Why do the citizens of Malawi allow their number one citizens to cross the border for treatment? Do we not say local is lekker?

My reliable Aljazeera 514 channel screaming headline on 7 April is telling me (the obese - of course from over indulgence) Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is travelling to Cuba for the third time since February for further cancer treatment. I am tempted to pull out my hair, but immediately stop at attempting this feat as I am clean shaven! This is one amongst many of his trips abroad for the elusive world class treatment on home soil. Again, I ask how many of his own Venezuelan people have that luxury of hopping on to privately chartered planes and whisked to exclusive private treatment spas. Again, I digress, it is the preserve of despots to have world class care whilst their subjects make do with lemon peels, aloe vera extracts and paracetamol for prostate, ovarian and breast cancer, malaria, diabetes, asthma and my dear reader the endless you know list of the many plagues of the African continent. Pardon me, I know paracetamol is not even that readily available either. Chavez was reported praying during the Easter period saying "Give me your crown, Jesus. Give me your cross, your thorns so that I may bleed. But give me life, because I have more to do for this country and these people. Do not take me yet," Chavez added, standing below an image of Jesus with the Crucifix. What more can one ask for if God has given you access to the resources to build and maintain your own infrastructure. Oh, come on man, pray for Solomon-s wisdom.

In six months, my very own Dear Leader, the democratic elected President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Zanu-PF-s First Secretary, Commander of the Defence Forces, Chancellor of University of Zimbabwe, NUST, MSU, Lupane and number one citizen has been to Singapore no less than 6 times. In one of the trips, it was reported to be for a cataract removal and the subsequent check ups. Really, a cataract removal in Singapore! Let me suss you out on the possible costs involved here, the cost of hiring out a plane, the entourage and bootlickers, the foreign currency drain etc. Would that money not go a long way on equipping one state hospital to allow for a thousand cataract removals for the elderly persons of Zimbabwe. Cataract surgery is one of the most common and quickest forms of surgery. Many people are able to return to their usual daily routine 24 hours after having the operation. The procedure to remove a cataract usually lasts 30-45 minutes, and vision is improved almost immediately. But does our dear leader always immediately return home? You know the answer.

The Kenyan presidential candidate Mwai Kibaki of Kenya travelled to London for medical treatment. This was after a car accident on 3 December 2002. At that time he was expected to stay in a private hospital in west London for at least three days. What kind of treatment was he expecting you may wonder. The visit was for specialists to consider further treatment on his fractured arm and sprained ankle. It had further on reported that Mr Kibaki's personal physician, Dr Dan Gikonyo, said they had decided to take him to the UK just to check the work of local doctors and surgeons! If this were not a tragic indictment of poor governance, I would have fallen off my chair laughing. Mwai Kibaki had been part of the ruling establishment since 1978, and some 24 years down the road, he didn-t have faith in his own medical establishment!

The great iconic figure Nelson Mandela continues to have his medical treatment on his home turf. He and his people have faith in their own medical systems. The argument that he might be accessing private care because the state run hospitals are being run down is neither here nor there. He still has that option to remain in his own country and has faith of his own doctors. Why can-t the Malawian, Zimbabwean, Venezuealan and other African leaders invest and maintain their own medical care systems.

Someone out there enlighten me please of a developed world president or a first world despot who has travelled to Africa for medical treatment.

Instead of sanctions and withholding of donor funding, kick the despots where it hurts most. Deny the despots access to first class world medical care. Let them develop and maintain their own hospitals. Let them invest all the foreign travel funds into upgrading their own hospitals and stocking up on medication for themselves and their people. If they can-t do that, at least help fund the generators of the morgues keep functioning well to help preserve their corpses before grand funerals. I challenge you reader, let-s name and shame the African presidents who have sought and continue to seek medical care abroad.

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