The home with countless plants; both young and matured from North to South, and from West to East.
The Green home Is always hospitable, and a place I always love to be. So relaxing and focusable, unexplainable it is.
Very refreshing: breathing fresh air (oxygen), all because of my green home. I produce bad air (carbon dioxide) but my green home takes care of this and use it for photosynthesis. This process produces glucose apart from the oxygen at the end which provides energy for me. Again, the photosynthesis in turn reduces the greenhouse effect and global warming.
I get medicine from my green home. It is worth noting that my green home protects me against noise-induced hearing loss by reducing noise.
Erosion and flooding have never been part of my headaches b’cos my home is green. I consume the most cleaned water everyday due to the green home.
What are you waiting for my dear friend? Let’s go planting! Kindly make it a point to plant a tree at least every week and take good care of it like yourself because your life depend on that plant. Let’s go green for our own welfare.
As technology advances, with enjoyable social media, there comes with emerging health implications like the TEXT NECK SYNDROME.
Text Neck Syndrome is not an official medical diagnosis but commonly used term for repetitive stress injury to the neck spine which may be as result of excessive texting/ use of mobile phone or computer in a poor posture. According to the Harvard Medical Health, seven out of ten people may experience neck aches at some point in their lives.
This Text Neck Syndrome is usually caused by forward head posture (that’s excessive amounts of time looking at screens, regardless of posture) leading to intense or stabbing pain in the neck, upper back and/or shoulders, tightness and reduced mobility of the neck, upper back and shoulders, referred pain such as headaches as a result of spasms of the muscles at the base of the neck. One may experience increased pain when the neck is flexed forward into the original position that caused the problem like looking down and texting. The human head weighs about 10-12pounds: for every inch the head is tilted forward, the weight of our neck has to carry double. This compresses and tightens the neck muscle, tendons and ligaments. When this bad head posture continues overtime, it leads to the aforesaid Text Neck Syndrome.
Credit; Joy News.
People who uses one hand to text may experience more pain at one side due to more straining of those muscles than one who uses both hands in texting or no hands if lying on a table or lap because the pain is evenly distributed on both sides of the neck and/or upper back.
Photo Credit; brandonessentials.com
There are associated problems with Text Neck Syndrome such as cervical radiculopathy ( the cervical nerves root are diseased causing electric shock-like pain, pins- and-needles tingling, numbness or weakness which may radiate from the neck down to the shoulder, arm and/or hand), balance issues, jaw pain as a result of misalignment in the cervical spine and others.
Exercises like exaggerated nod where one pulls his or her shoulders down and back, chin tuck and cat-cow can be done. Below are pictures of how to do these exercises for cervical spine health.
Exaggerated nod.Chin tuckCat-cow
Good posture practices like bringing the screen of your phone or laptop to the eye level is encouraged. The use of “Text Neck App” especially android users can give you alerts on your posture by green or red light ( where green means good posture and red means bad posture).
Every Seventh April has been chosen as The World Health Day. The genesis of this celebration came about during the First Health Assembly in 1948 which came to light since 1950. The celebration aimed to create awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organization.
The theme for this year’s celebration is Building a fairer, healthierworld for everyone. As Joyce Meyer said “I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.” Hence, we must build a fairer, healthier world and how do we do that? In this era of COVID-19, we can create a healthier world by adhering strictly to the safety protocols such as regular hand washing with soap under running water, social distancing at least arm stretched away from others, wearing of face mask, covering the nose and mouth with tissue when coughing and sneezing and discarding immediately. Also, regular exercises, adequate rest, eating well like more vegetables and fruits diet as well as taking a jab of the approved vaccines to make the world safe for all of us. All these reinforce Joyce Meyer’s argument that the greatest gift you can give to your family is healthy you.
Mahatma Gandhi said “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” This seems to suggest that we must also chase our health as we chase for money because the real wealth is health. What will you get if you obtain all the wealth in this world like cars, mansions, owing multinational companies and others, and you are unwell or unhealthy to enjoy those wealth? Others argue that money can buy health but this is not always the case. Let “healthy you” be the most priority by regular check ups, adequate intake of water, good sexual life like one sex partner, practicing protective sex if not your married partner, including the aforementioned.
Bryan Cranston emphasized that “ Love is not as important as good health. You cannot be in love if you’re not healthy. You can’t appreciate it.” This appears to reinforce that good health supersedes love so if you say you love someone so much then do things that bring good health to the world we all live. And this will show that you love that person. Again, we can all take it upon ourselves to work on our climate change to make the world habitable by taking it up to ourselves that we will plant just a tree at least every three months or even on your birthday, we will change to the use of biodegradable materials (materials that can decay to prevent environmental pollution), we will stop cutting down trees as well as indiscriminate waste disposal and others.
Virgil commented that “The greatest wealth is health.”
It is therefore necessary for us to grow foods naturally than the use of so many chemicals to achieve the greatest wealth in the world. Let think about one another and have feelings for humanity. As the Holy Scripture (Holy Bible) says love your neighbor as yourself. It is our collaborative responsibility to make this world healthier for us all including you so that we can have a wonderful world to live in.
Most people and even policy makers ignore me, there is Long stigmatisation of me, leading to inattention of me. I lack visible symptoms. One trillion US dollars is lost as a result of the collective failure to address me. World Health Organization (WHO) saw my importance, hence declared every 3rd March as a day to celebrate me. Guess whom I am! Hearing/Hearing loss.
Dr. Zhang Haidi, President of Rehabilitations International Disabled Person’s Federation, China described Hearing loss as Hidden Disability. This can be deduced that when one has Hearing loss, it is hardly to observe physically until you talk to the person, and even society still don’t believe that the person has Hearing loss because all the physical features are in tact: the society rather perceived that the person with Hearing loss pretend not to hear what people say as a way of ignoring them. This has gone on and on, and stilling going on.
Before we continue the discussion, let briefly look at the meaning of Hearing to get the concept. Hearing is one of the senses that help us to perceive sounds around us through our engagement with our environment, communicating with others and expressing our thoughts with the help of healthy and functional ears. Hearing Capacity is your ability, my ability or our ability to perceive sounds around us. Our inability to perceive sounds around us is what we call Hearing loss, this can be permanent or temporary and/or both ears (bilateral) or one ear (unilateral).
Bryan Adams, a renowned musician once said “music is everything, and so is your hearing”. Bryan added that what is most important is the way we enjoy our music; volume can danger our Hearing forever, hence losing our sense of hearing won’t come back. Please, have you once sat down quietly to think through some of the concerns raised by Bryan Adams to shape your lifestyle on music and noise? Its never late: the time is now. The WHO buttressed Bryan Adams claims with empirical data that 1.1billion young people are at risk of permanent hearing loss from listening to music at loud volume over prolonged period of time. This type of Hearing loss is what the science family call Noise-Induced Hearing Loss. Additionally, living in a noisy environment like market, drinking spot where music is played loudly and others can prone you to the above condition. Noise is now important public health issue and a top environmental risk. The loudness of sounds is measured in units called decibels (dB). Any loudness of sound more than 80dB can damage the ears. It is advisable to have loudness of sounds less than 20dB to keep your ears healthy.
It must be noted that common ear diseases, ear infections as well as vaccine-preventable disease can lead to Hearing loss if not giving attention to seek immediate medical attention. Some are born with Hearing loss due to problems during pregnancy, and even at birth. Nutritional deficiencies like Vitamin A, Zinc, Iron can lead to Hearing loss. Also, be careful with medications you use over-the- counter because some can affect your hearing capacity. Consult your health professional before taking any drug. Trauma to ear or head, exposure to toxic chemicals, smoking as well as age can put you at risk of developing Hearing loss.
It’s about time policy makers, health institutions, government and others start the debate on this “hidden Disability” now than late to protect ear and hearing health of the populace. This can be achieved in the following ways;
Hearing screening and intervention.
Ear disease prevention and management.
Access to technologies.
Rehabilitation services.
Improved communication.
Noise reduction.
Greater community engagement.
Credit; WHO World Report on Hearing.
Good ear hygiene is key to hearing capacity. Avoid use of cotton-tipped swabs for the ear, avoid inserting or instilling any objects (eg. matchsticks, feathers, pins, pencils etc) or liquids into the ears, the use of home remedies for common ear conditions like plant juices, hot oil instillation and ear candling should be discouraged. Seeking prompt medical attention to treat common cold, ear pain or ear discharge or ear bleeding or hearing loss is best way to go.
As youthful and exuberant we are, it is our duty to protect our ears in a noisy environment by practicing safe listening strategies like;
1. Regular use of earplugs as hearing protection (for instance; well-inserted earplugs help to reduce the level of exposure by 5-45dB).
2. Maintain a distance from the sources of sound.
3. Minimize time spent in noisy environments (one can take short breaks from noisy environments).
As you go out, watch out for your ears for your sense of hearing won’t come back if there’s damage. Hearing is health but hearing loss is “invincible or hidden disability”.
Credit.
World Report on Hearing. Geneva: World Health Organisation; 2021. Licence:CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
My journey to the vaccine city started since 1796 where the first small pox vaccine was conceptualised. This journey has never been easy and still will never be easy now and future. Along the journey, many pregnant women exposed to Rubella popularly known as German measles had their children suffered crippling birth defects, and this called for my over-speeding to the vaccine city. My over-speeding was worsened by countless U.S. servicemen ( 330,000) being exposed to the Hepatitis B as a result of yellow fever vaccines contamination with blood plasma from carrier hepatitis B donors. Near fifty thousand of the vaccinated U.S. Servicemen had dangerous liver disease, and between one hundred and one hundred and fifty died.
Cutter laboratories, a California-based company facilitated my avoidable accident if due diligence was considered. This company made live disease-causing virus and this paralysed one hundred and ninety-two people, killing ten children. What nearly killed me before reaching the vaccine city was the discovery of monkey kidney cells to make famous Salk polio vaccine which harboured the monkey virus called SV40; tens of millions American children who had already received the contaminated injections.
Leonard Hayflick In 1962 rescued me with a breakthrough W1-38 cells to make vaccines for more than three hundred millions of U.S. preschoolers to safely reach the vaccine city. This young scientist whispered to me that cells were needed to energise me to reach the vaccine city. A copycat group of cells have been developed using the method of Hayflick to make additional six billion vaccines to empower me reach the vaccine city to protect people against range of viral diseases like Rubella, Rabies, Chicken pox, measles, Polio, Hepatitis A, Shingles and Adenovirus. This W1-38 cells launched long time ago is still my power currently as I get near the vaccine city in this COVID-19 era due to the large initial stock and the power of exponential growth when thawed by Hayflick.
However, my journey to the vaccine city has been antagonised by so many factors like anti-vaccination autism-induced conspiracy theories, Fraudulent research, some conflicting information from some highly medical experts and others.
According to Michael Kinch in his book; Between Hope & Fear; A History of Vaccines and Human Immunity, the main motive people avoided me from arriving safely at the vaccine city was based on agonising fears of different spectrum of diseases as well as those associated with autism. Andrews Wakefield can be said to be the brain behind this thinking by his fraudulent research methodologies and error-prone data analysis, hence can be accounted for recurrence of common childhood diseases.
Admittedly, my difficulties along my journey to the vaccine city cannot be overlooked by the precedents such as paralytic fear of polio vaccines, death-induced vaccines and others. This therefore brings the questions of quality and quantity of life for all people on my journey to the vaccine city. Nevertheless, the claims of autism associated with vaccines need adequate empirical data to substantiate the claims as this has been the song of some big personalities like Jenny McCarthy and Donald Trump, hindering my smooth journey to the vaccine city.
Some medical gurus like Dr. Archie Kalokerinos and Dr. Viera Scheibner seemed to suggest that vaccines theory is the biggest medical fraud, hence my journey to the vaccine city can be impeded by these theories of mindsets. Dr. Archie Kalokerinos ( paediatrician for over 30years) said “The further I looked into it, the more shocked I became. I found that the whole vaccine business was indeed a gigantic hoax. Most doctors are convinced that they are useful, but if you look at the proper statistics and study the instance of these diseases, you will realise that this is not so”. Dr. Viera Scheibner added that “There is no evidence whatsoever of the ability of vaccines to prevent any disease”.
All these arguments have made people pointing their fingers on my journey to the vaccine city as creating panics for profit especially in this COVID-19 era. This seems to reinforce people’s common thought that “when does flu season start; The flu season starts when the drug companies have millions of flu vaccines waiting to be sold”. My journey to the vaccine city has been very tougher by the perception that “disease like wars are manufactured for profit; behind are drug companies”
But it cannot be ruled that my journey has not helped to eradicate many deadliest plagues known to man? My journey to the vaccine city has been challenged by current and future threats and even old and new threats like Ebola, Zika and the Almighty COVID-19. My journey to the vaccine city depends on the anti-vaccine movement people who have not directly experienced the devastation wreaked by maladies like polio or measles to either proceed or discontinue.
It can be deduced that in order to determine the importance of my journey to the vaccine city, think through the following;
1. Who benefits from the disease mongering and the sale of vaccines?
2. What is the chance of me contracting this disease if I don’t vaccinate versus if I do vaccinate?
3. What are the vaccine ingredients?
4. What are the risks/side effects of the vaccination?
5. What causes the disease?
6. Has the study demonstrated that the vaccines work?
Do you support the journey to the vaccine city or not? Comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
Recently, after news broke out that an office has been opened for LGBTQin Ghana, there have been serious debates in the Ghanaian media as well as social media space as to whether LGBTQ is an accepted social behaviour or lawful act .
For both Bismark Kwabla Kpobi and Philemon Aning-Antoh who are Mental Health Experts, LGBTQ is a sexualdisorder, hence victims need mental health care. Also, legal practitioners like Samson Anyenini are of the view that it is an illegal act as section 104 of Ghana’s Criminal Code proscribes LGBTQ with the specific provision of ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’. Meanwhile, Director of LGBTQ + Rights in Ghana, Alex Kofi Donkor told TV3’s Miriam Osei Agyemang on the Mid-day News on Friday February 19 that persons who are identified as LGBTQ are verbally and physically attacked in the country. To him, this must stop because LGBTQ have fundamental human rights that must be respected and protected by the society (sighted in an article published by Charsaytv online).
In an open letter written to Parliament of Ghana by Mental Health Expert, Bismark Kwabla Kpobi which was sighted on social media on 21st of February, 2021, he asserted that LGBTQ is a Sexual Disorder . He therefore admonished Government to empower the Mental Health Authority to fight this menace. Below is the full statement made by Bismark Kwabla Kpobi.
As the LGBTQ activities and incessant pressure from super power countries and half thinking influential people in society, it will be right and dutiful for the government of Ghana to empower the Mental Health Authority and Ghana Health Service to equip the mental health, Psychiatric personnel to dealing with this social menace which is devilish in nature and morally abominable.
The Bible says we should train up a child on the right way so when they grow they do not depart from it , and on that note, I appeal to philanthropists, NGOs, government to help empower Mental Health Authority and Ghana Health Service to helping with proper health education on the mental illnesses, sexual disorders and many more.
When you read about the Psychosexual theory of developmental a propounded by renowned Psychologist Sigmud Freud, stated categorically on the issues of fixation that leads to some of this vices; fixation at Oral , Anal, phallic and Latent Stages can results into what we seeing today.
Erik Erikson, a student of Sigmud Freud further expanded this theory to Psychosocial Development of the child and we can purely deduce the problems of these LGBTQ at Trust vs Mistrust, Identity vs Role confusion.
Having stated the cause of these sexual disorders, I pray the government to as a matter of urgency through Parliament should enact laws that will empower mental health activities in the country.
LGBTQ need Modern psychiatric Hospitals to treating them not legalisation of their problems.
The nation should spend more resources in Mental Health issues and not fall to the evils of the European countries and Americans foolishness of animalistic activities.
Additionally, Philemon Aning-Antoh, a Mental Health Expert deepened the health argument with the following statements sighted on social media.
It is well documented that homosexuality was classified as a mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) until 1973 when it was replaced with the diagnosis of “sexual orientation disturbance”.
London-based psychiatrist, Clifford Allen, argued in 1965 that female homosexuality is a sexual neurosis and is just as treatable as any other neurosis and claimed to have cured a number of female patients through psychotherapy.
Aversion therapy has been widely known to help in the treatment of homosexuality. There is also a grand scheme of affairs to massage the DSM to suit the context of the so-called sexual disorientation but we must not fall prey to it.
One of the determinants of mental health/illness is “cultural appropriateness.” Is homosexuality culturally appropriate in Ghana and for that matter, Africa?
How can polygamy be condemned in Africa and LGBTQ lauded?
Ghana can in no uncertain terms accept LGBTQ under the guise of human rights protection, treaties, and conventions.
Sexuality describes the ways an individual experiences (or doesn’t experience) attraction, and the related identity they claim for themselves according to Brown.edu LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender and Queer/Questioning.
Commonly words used to describe LGBTQ people include “Queer Community” or “Rainbow Community”.
Lesbian
A lesbian is a female homosexual: a female who experiences romantic love or sexual attraction to other females.
Gay
Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. Gay is often used to describe homosexual males but lesbians may also be referred to as gay.
Bisexual
Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior toward both males and females, or romantic or sexual attraction to people of any sex or gender identity; this latter aspect is sometimes termed pansexuality.
Transgender
Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. It is sometimes abbreviated to trans.
Transsexual
experience a gender identity inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Two-Spirit
Two-Spirit is a modern umbrella term used by some indigenous North Americans to describe gender-variant individuals in their communities, specifically people within indigenous communities who are seen as having both male and female spirits within them.
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities that are not heterosexual or cisgender. Queer was originally used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires but, beginning in the late-1980s, queer scholars and activists began to reclaim the word.
Questioning
The questioning of one’s gender, sexual identity, sexual orientation, or all three is a process of exploration by people who may be unsure, still exploring, and concerned about applying a social label to themselves for various reasons.
Intersex
Intersex is a variation in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that do not allow an individual to be distinctly identified as male or female.
Asexual
Asexuality (or nonsexuality) is the lack of sexual attraction to anyone, or low or absent interest in sexual activity. It may be considered the lack of a sexual orientation, or one of the variations thereof, alongside heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality.
Ally
An Ally is a person who considers themselves a friend to the LGBTQ+ community.
Pansexual
Pansexuality, or omnisexuality, is sexual attraction, romantic love, or emotional attraction toward people of any sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are insignificant or irrelevant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to others.
Agender
Agender people, also called genderless, genderfree, non-gendered, or ungendered people are those who identify as having no gender or being without any gender identity. This category includes a very broad range of identities which do not conform to traditional gender norms.
Gender Queer
Gender Queer is an umbrella term for gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine—identities which are thus outside of the gender binary and cisnormativity.
Bigender
Bigender is a gender identity where the person moves between feminine and masculine gender identities and behaviours, possibly depending on context. Some bigender individuals express two distinct “female” and “male” personas, feminine and masculine respectively; others find that they identify as two genders simultaneously.
Gender Variant
Gender variance, or gender nonconformity, is behaviour or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine and feminine gender norms. People who exhibit gender variance may be called gender variant, gender non-conforming, gender diverse or gender atypical, and may be transgender, or otherwise variant in their gender expression. Some intersex people may also exhibit gender variance.
Pangender
Pangender people are those who feel they identify as all genders. The term has a great deal of overlap with gender queer. Because of its all-encompassing nature, presentation and pronoun usage varies between different people who identify as pangender.
In conclusion, there are ongoing discussions and debates on LGBTQ, what is your take on it? Kindly comment and let us have an educative discourse. Thanks for reading and sharing.
Watch out for My Journey to the Vaccine City right here on this blog. My Journey to the Vaccine City is written in a satirical poetry form to enlighten you on vaccines in this era of COVID-19. Stayed glued to this space. Thank you.
Near thirteen months now, the world and its people have been tormented psychologically and physically by the deadly biological enemy, COVID-19. In the genesis of COVID-19, there were perceived threats such as perceived susceptibility to the deadly disease but behavioral evaluation facilitated by perceived barriers such as cost, lifestyle, sacrifices and others influenced the health behaviors of individuals. The Health Belief Model (HBM) argues that health education, diagnosis of family members, media reports and others should be adequate catalyst to move people into recommended health behaviors but the story is different due to Pandemic Fatigue. This explains why people have family members infected with COVID-19 and die but still take risky health behaviors like ignoring the COVID-19 safety protocols.
However as the adage goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way thus thankfully Rev. Emeritus Prof. Andrews Seth Ayettey (a former Provost of the College of health Sciences of the the University of Ghana) and his team have found a breakthrough for countries classified as “Third World Countries”. Such countries who do not have enough funds to produce vaccines to institute the ‘me first approach’ used by classified “first and second world countries” as described by the WHO Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, can now rely on an effective alternative substitute. The breakthrough is the use of hydrogen peroxide as prophylaxis for immediate protection against COVID-19.
This discovery was made through a study done by the Professor and his team, titled “A Case for Hydrogen Peroxide Mouthwash and Gargle to Limit SARS-CoV-2 Infection”. In this observational study, the efficacy of hydrogen peroxide was ascertained when eight frontline nurses in the COVID-19 management team at a district hospital who used hydrogen peroxide tested negative for COVID-19 since May, 2020. Meanwhile, sixty-two of other nurses who did not use hydrogen peroxide had contracted the disease by the end of December 2020 according to Prof. Ayettey.
The Wonderful HydrogenPeroxide.
Hydrogen Peroxide is a mild antiseptic solution used to prevent infections. According to CDC cited in healthline.com, this solution kills bacteria, viruses, yeasts, fungi and mold spores, hence the antiseptic nature. Hydrogen Peroxide is colourless liquid at room temperature with a bitter taste.
How does Hydrogen Peroxideprovide immediate protectionagainst COVID-19?
Hydrogen Peroxide releases oxygen (air) to the mouth and nostrils when used as mouthwash and nostril rinsing respectively. It damages and inactivates the viruses, hence limiting infection and spread of COVID-19.
How to Use HydrogenPeroxide.
What is normally seen in the market is 3%-6% Hydrogen Peroxide. It is advisable to dilute this solution with water to 0.5% if used for rinsing the nostril or 1% if used for mouth wash. For instance, if the solution is 6% and you want to dilute it to 1% for mouthwash: add 5 parts of water. This means that if you use a spoon to measure the hydrogen peroxide, use the same spoon to measure the water five times to the one spoon of the hydrogen peroxide. This dilution helps to reduce the chemical strength that may affect the mucosal lining of the mouth and the nostril but still kills the virus. It is encouraged to rinse the mouth or nostril three times a day, and there should be a positive outcome within seven days. Kindly note that after rinsing the mouth with the diluted hydrogen peroxide, don’t swallow but pour it out of your mouth, this whole process is what the science community termed as mouth gargling. Also, keep in mind that the action word here is rinse sodon’t drink the solution.
How to perform nasal (nostril) rinsing(irrigation) with the diluted hydrogen peroxide solution.
1. After diluting the solution, kindly pour it into a bulb syringe, sinus rinse bottle or squeeze bottle, a normal syringe used at the hospital could be used.
2. Tilt your head forward to one side (to the nostril you want to start first) closer to a sink or a receiver to collect drained solution. This position allows free flow of the solution in and out of the nostril during the procedure.
3. Position the filled bulb syringe or sinus rinse bottle or squeeze bottle or the syringe used at the hospital (without the needle) to one of the nostril and push or squeeze the solution into your nostril.
4. Hold your breath for about one to two seconds to prevent swallowing the solution accidentally, and breath through the mouth.
5. Allow the solution to freely drain out of the nostril into the receiver or sink.
6. Blow the nostril after the procedure to clear all mucous out.
7. Repeat same to the other nostril.
PhotoCredit; Mayo Clinic, DoctorOZ, unknown.
Let’s adopt the use of hydrogen peroxide as mouthwash and nostril rinsing as our health habits to safeguard us against this deadly COVID-19. However, this should not be an opportune moment for drug-producing companies to hike the prices of hydrogen peroxide to the disadvantage of the poor and vulnerable. Let’s save one another. COVID-19 is real!
My curiosity made me to find out what keeps us moving in this world but to my surprise, it was revealed that there are three key foundations a country stands on; Health, Education and Agriculture. Each of these is interdependent. We need knowledge to understand our health, and we need food to give us energy to be able to acquire knowledge and stay healthy. With this, it can be argued that any smart nation or individual must invest in Health, Education, and Agriculture. This leads us to our discussion on health investment and how smart it should be!
According to World Health Organisation (WHO): “Health is a human right”, hence everyone has right to good health but this is not achieved on a silver platter, it takes a lot of work and planning as individual, institutions and government at large to achieve this. With proper planning, you can easily have good health to enjoy the world flexibly and freely. Https:www.nuviewnutrition.com asserted that “make health a lifestyle rather than a chore”. This means it is very wise to invest in the food we eat mundane, activities of daily living like exercises, managing our stresses, making more time for our body, mind and soul, our sexual life as well as spiritual life. This reminded me of my favourite quote I love so much from Heather Morgan that “every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it”.
Additionally, from my personal experiences as a nurse clinician, it is very regrettable and extremely sad that sometimes money cannot buy health when very wealthy people are in sick beds. Some of my encounters revealed most rich people were busy chasing wealth than their health, and by the time ‘they’ obtained the wealth, their health are at deteriorating stage where nothing can be done. In a nutshell, be smart to invest in your health too as you chase the wealth so that you can enjoy your wealth in a healthy state. What gains do you get if you chase all the wealths in the world, neglecting your health consciously or unconsciously then someone who did not ‘sweat some’ enjoys the wealth when you’re terminally ill or dead?
To The Institutions and Government………….
According to WHO’s article titled “Health is a smart investment”, any nation with a good primary health care makes the population healthier. It was also noted in this article that most money goes into healthcare provided in hospitals rather than primary health care. Another revelation was that “the first line of defence against outbreaks and health emergencies is Primary Health Care”. For us to understand and appreciate the arguments made by WHO, we need to understand the Primary Health Care and its concept, hence, the next discussion.
WHO described Primary Health Care as “A comprehensive healthcare centred on the needs and preferences of individuals, families and communities throughout the lifespan, not just for a set of specific diseases”. In simple term; screening and treating common diseases, providing promotive and preventive health care like vaccinations, health information for behaviour change. WHO argued that Strong Primary Health Care system saves money for the state. For instance, people across the length and breadth of the country need to journey costly to hospitals where healthcare is more expensive to provide. The cost in caring for one with terminal illness can make the whole family wheel in a cycle of poverty. This can make one to make a decision between his or her mother’s medications and his or her child’s education which should not be so. Investing in Primary Health Care helps to obtain healthy productive populations to drive the economic growth. And this saves money for the state.
WHO estimates one trillion US dollars investment in health by 2030 if prevention and control efforts are not taking very serious. Ministry of Health (MOH) document titled Health financing in Ghana sighted revealed that by 2030, our population will increase by almost 40% and older 65 and above will increase by 90% which will burden our health financial needs or escalate our Total Health Expenditure (THE). It is therefore critical for government to invest in population control using health information strategies as one of the pillars of Primary Health Care to sensitise the public.
Health Expenditure…………
For you to appreciate smart health investment, it is only logical to discuss briefly health expenditure. Health expenditure in short is health spending. Let’s have in mind the two key terms which will be used in the discussions; Government health spending (health bills covered by national health insurance) and Out-of-pocket health spending ( health bills not covered by national health insurance and are paid directly by the private or individual.
Taking a critical look at the WHO Global Health Expenditure chart below of some selected countries like Ghana, the United Kingdom, the United States, and South Africa; Ghana our beloved country is not doing badly at all in government health spending, and reducing the out-of-pocket health spending to lower health financial burden on individuals, but there is more room for improvement.
In conclusion, we as individuals should invest smartly in our personal health, paying attention to our promotive and preventative health as we chase the wealth. We should let our health be our lifestyle, not chore. To the institutions and government, let us invest most of the health spending into Primary Health Care to save the nation; let’s change the common mindset that investment in health is investment in hospitals. Let’s celebrate the new year safely by observing all the safety protocols because new variants of COVID-19 is aggressively emerging .
For the past three months, I feel tired of wearing face mask as soon as I leave my home, I feel tired of physical distancing from my friends and colleagues at weddings, funerals and workplace respectively. I also feel tired of constantly washing my hands, sanitising my hands, my electronic gadgets, my bags and others. The electioneering process in Ghana recently even worsened the case to ignore the safety protocols and campaign for power. I hope you are feeling the same wherever you find yourself.
Meanwhile, this was not the case when the COVID-19 pandemic started but now it seems there’s fatigue, demotivating me to continue adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols till the vaccines become accessible globally. I am sure you’re also experiencing or witnessing the same. This leads us to the discussion of Pandemic Fatigue.
Pandemic Fatigue can be explained as the demotivation to follow acceptable protective behaviours which is a natural response as a result of protracted uncertainty. According to Prof. Cornelia Betsch, professor of Health communication at Erfurt University in Germany cited in WHO(2020): the key motivator for protective behaviour is fear. Prof. Cornelia Betsch added that when the fear wears off, people adapt to the threat.
This can be deduced that at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, fear factor motivated us to adapt to the safety protocols but due to prolonged uncertainty of the disease, we adopted different style of coping, leading us into demotivation mood. In my long essay which is yet to be published titled understanding effective risk communication in the context of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ghana: it was revealed that provocation and shock tactics will help move the public into the recommended protective behaviours looking at the behavioural trends in Ghana. Additionally, during the literature review, it was discovered that increased self-efficacy through enhanced knowledge can produce recommended protective behaviours. However, the story this time looks different; I myself as author as well as my learned colleagues who are well vest in COVID-19 and its safety measures are demotivated to carry out the recommended protective behaviours due to pandemic fatigue as a result of prolonged uncertainties.
Common Signs of Pandemic Fatigue.
1. Feelings of hopelessness
2. Irritability
3. Lack of motivation
4. Changes in eating or sleeping habits
5. Unable to concentrate
Implications of Pandemic Fatigue.
As the COVID-19 Pandemic extends, we gradually start to lose our motivation to follow the safety protocols, hence we become self-satisfied about the virus even when the virus continues to spread and kill. This Pandemic Fatigue also makes us tired of living under restrictions, and therefore may want to obtain our freedom of movement which can put us and others at risk of contracting the virus.
The way forward:
Individual
As an individual, let recollect what the Holy Bible says in Proverbs 24:10 “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small”. Also in Proverbs 14:16 which says “A wiseman feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth And is confident”. Lastly, Isaiah 41:13 says “For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not; I will help thee”. Let ponder over these verses regularly and strengthen our relationship with God. Last but not least, let connect with our friends and family socially but not physically through phone calls, social media and others.
Institutions/Organizations/Policy makers.
1. Understand the people
2. Engage the people as part of the solution
3. Help the people to reduce risk while doing things that will make them happy
4. Acknowledge and address the hardship people experience, and the profound impact the pandemic has had on people’s lives.
In conclusion, we cannot do without counselors or psychologist, we need them most at this critical moment. Let help each other to overcome this pandemic till the vaccine becomes globally accessible.
Kwasi Omaro 