THE CRUMBLING STATE OF HEALTH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

I HELD MY BREATH AS I LISTENED TO THE GOV SPOKESMAN
On the early hours of Thursday morning on the 6th April 2012, I received a distress call from a respected friend anesthetist at the Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe.He was asking if by any chance as a visiting WE TRIBE I had some adrenaline in my traveling goody bag. I had non. 30 minutes later, he called again and in confidence told me that the head of state had passed on, he was frustrated because he couldn't get a vial of adrenaline at the countries government's premier referral facility to restart the Head of states cardiac activity after he arrested early that morning, there was no specialist either to guide the resuscitative efforts.The defibrillator at the hospital was a defunct donation that failed at the hour of need. For publicity, the stiff body was flown to SA to give room for transition and sipping of the tragic news to the nation.The rest is in public domain. A year earlier, I had joined a high powered delegation to the Lilongwe state house to plead a case for the need to rebuild the broken health systems in Malawi. Statehouse categorically informed our delegation that there were more pressing budget items that needed support, and I particularly remember a senior Government health official stating to the forum that they have bilateral understanding with India and South Africa to treat the citizens who need specialized care beyond the nations borders. So yesterday,as I saw the government spokesman trivialize an issue of life and death on National Media houses, I held my breath as history was fast replaying on the screen.Only time will tell if it will replay full circle.