After moving here I found out that one man's trash is another man's treasure. (Most people around the world buy and wear the used clothes that Americans throw away). I found out that internet, satellite, and air conditioning are not essential to man's basic existence. I found out that what I took for granted, and even at times disdained as below standard, was beyond reach for most of the worlds 6.7 billion people. I found out that my perspective about the world was pretty jilted and out of proportion with the global reality. It was a hard lessons to learn that things I used to complain about could not even be fathomed by most people.
All these ideas came crashing back to me as I read the response of so many people that were involved in the American Health Care reform debate. I would read quotes like this, “The access to good health care is a fundamental right of all people,” President Obama. "This is the civil rights act of the 21st century," Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina. Or, "We are the ONLY CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD without universal health care!! So ... now (we) become like the rest of the world" comment to AP report on health care. "President Obama should be applauded for his tenacity in waiting to help out the little guy and all those who fall into that category. For far to long we the hardest working of all Americans, the ones that barely survive on a week to week basis, will have one less concern for ourselves and their families." Response to CNN report.
I am not some much concerned if the reader is a jubilant supporter of health care reform or a defeated protestor to this form of health care. The many thing that I want a person to see is the perspective of about 5.5 billion other people around the world. Weather the person is angry that 30 million people do not have adequate health care, or angry that the government is socializing health care, I want the reader to see the facts and gain a small perspective of what my friends here in Ghana face in regards to their health care.
Dease and Death Rate Facts:
Last year in America a total of 1,527,624 people died from health related causes. These numbers are sad, and each digit represents a life and a story. But, lets compare these facts to some others. Last year in the world 1,324,487 people outside the United States died from Tuberculosis; 990,000 people died from malaria; 281,972 new cases of Measles were reported, with most of them being fatal outside the United States. :Last year 27,000 children die around the world everyday, because of preventable causes. That is 9,855,000 children that die every year out side the United States be preventable causes. That means for each person in America that died wih health care, 10 children (not counting adults or teens) die from common problems such as, diarrhea, influenza, food poisoning.
Do these facts mean that I want the Untied States to have undeveloped health care. No, in no way at all. I just hope to put this in perspective for those that have slipped into to viewing the world in an unclear way. This means that though people say that health care is a fundamental right of mankind, 6 billion people have never tasted it.
Health Care Costs:
In the African country of Burundi- the average person pays 91.4% of their annual income on health care expenses. In Ghana- the average person pays 65.8% of their annual income on health care expenses. In the United States- the average person only pays 23.5% of their income in medicine expenses.
Physicians and Nurses:
In American there 26 doctors for ever 1,000 people. In South Africa there are 8 doctors for every 1,000 people. In the country of Togo there is only 1 doctor for every 1,000 people. In America there are 94 nurses and midwives for every 1,000 people, in Ghana there are 9. In America there are 46 beds in a hospital for 1000 people. In most African countries there is less than 1 nurses for every 1,000.
Infant Mortality and Skilled Health Personnel:
In American 99% of all children are born with skilled health personnel present. In Peru 73%. In Ghana, 50%. In the country of Chad only 14% of all births are attended by health personnel. In the United States for every 1,000 births, there 6.26 deaths., in South Africa there 44.42 and in Mali there 102.
(All facts provide by the Center for Disease Control and Global Health Fact Organization www.globalhealthfacts.org , www.cdc.gov/nchs/FASTATS/death.htm)
Do these facts prove or disprove the need for American health care? This is not the point! At times what a person needs is not answers but perspective. In a time where people are fighting over the rights and needs of people, it is sometimes best for those people to hear about the plight of other people. Some times seeing some from the America viewpoint is not enough. The people of America might want to ask themselves what is the perspective of the other 6 billion people that co-habit this plant with them. How do they see our current health care system?
I have learned what it is like for most people of the world in regards to their health care. I have sat in the emergency waiting room of the major hospital in our city, while waiting for two days to get help. I have seen the bodies rolled in from accidents. Most people in the world visit their family members in hospital wards that are over crowded. People laying on the floor in their own blood hoping not to die while hoping for a bed and time to see the doctor. Nurses treating 100 patients at a time. Medical equipment that is archaic at best and broke most of the time. Most of the equipment and tools being used or the off sourcing and waste of the American health system. My wife has helped and visited women that have needed to be feed, bathed, and dressed each day at 5:00 am in the morning because the hospital staff cannot afford enough employees to do the work. People daily watch people die, because the basic medical supplies that could save their lives could not be obtained. This is the world’s take on the ‘fundamental’ rights of all men to health care.
The perspective to be gained is this: America has been blessed with good health care! America was founded on these truths. “That we hold these truths to be self evident that ALL men are created equal.” But some where along the line, after decades of having the best, people have begun to believe that just because they are geographically located in 50 united states called America, that somehow they are more equal then 95% of the world’s population. Does this mean that America health care has to be equal to the rest of the poor countries of the world. NO! But, next time the reader hears someone raise their voice and complain about the horrible state of the American medical system, just remember. It is just their perspective!
*****(All photos are copyrighted workers of William Huan. William is a Baptist photographer. All photos taken of West Africa are sold and the proceeds are given to the Baptist Hospital of Northern Ghana. The reader can visit his site at http://gallery.williamhaun.com)*****
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