Are you by any loose definition a modern unyoung man or woman? By using the word unyoung here, we mean that by any chance, are you out of the age bracket of 1- 30 years, an agewhen you are yet unaffected bymuch vicissitudes of life, untouched by horrifying woes and life-threatening illnesses and diseases?
In other words, are you 50, 60, or 70 or even beyond or approaching these landmark years in your life? If you are, chances are that you have become an‘elder’, maybe not according to Biblical definition. For the Holy Book says that an elder is somebody who is not up to a 100 years yet, while a youth is someone who is not up to a 100 years old! That sounds strange, does it not?
Well, well, if you are an elder according to the definition of today’s modern highly urbanised or semi-urbanised livingwhereby life is packed full with stress and many take to near sedentary jobs and live out very stress-filled lives as a result of which they hardly sweat out wastes from their bodies and which also means that your chronological age is in the age bracket of 50-70, chances are that you may have, unknown to you or even those close to you, acquired a set of devastating diseases such as: high blood pressure, excess sugar or diabetes and an additional likelihood of prostate enlargement or prostate cancer.You now know them all.
Of this set, diabetes, which is fast emerging as the most life threatening of them all, is the most likely. This disease is a rising one that men and women newly retired from service or active work life anywhere in the work domain are going down with these days. Many are dying of either one or a combination of these devastating diseases. These diseases have simply become a plague to modern mankind.
I am not a medical person but in the course of my work as akeen observer of society, I have noticed this trend in our country. Too many deaths are being recorded against these diseases in our nation.And the tragedy of it is that many in power and authority over our lives do not seem to be conscious of these killing diseases wrecking havoc on the population of our country.
Whatever may be the definition of age acceptable to you or your belief system, the fact remains that no one can cease from ageing. We were created by the Creator to age outand eventually become physically old or weaker before He thinks of recalling us to himself. Therefore, since it would seem that we must compulsorily waste away on this earth for a while no matter the duration, we must necessarily learn to overcome diseases that seem to come with ageing.
But what is the way out for individuals and for their nations as well? Not much hope seems to hold out for individuals braving it with these killers. Should we then be merely required to sorrow out with individuals that we know of who get afflicted by these diseases? As I said earlier, the frightening rate at which many individuals that we know of are getting devastated by these plagues, it is easy to conclude that individuals cannot be best left tohandle this reality. Their finances and even the lack of factual knowledge about these diseases make them unsuitable to cope in trying to help themselves.
But then the greater tragedy seems to lay in the fact that the country itself has not yet risen up to the occasion. It does appear as if our governments are not even aware of the ravagings of these diseases which is why they have not developed sufficient expertise and facilities to handle them which, again, is why many of our compatriots troopout in huge numbers each year to India, Egypt and other countries to receive succour.. The pain of this is that in the course of plans and preparation to travel out, precious time is lost and many of those whose lives would not have gone at the prime of their lives are going down with one or a combination of these diseases in frightening dimensions. In the few Federal Medical Centres dotted across the country and the equally few university teaching hospitals designated to handle these diseases, the scramble for experts or consultants in the various fields of this national tragedy and the few bed spaces available to receive treatment is intense. I recently lost a very dear relative who went down with what is called a diabetic coma and the struggle for these two vital factors, we were later told by those who know, was responsible for his sad demise.
Has anyone who cares enough noticed that these days, when you lose touch for a while with a friend or relative or acquaintance with whom you were once in very close affinity, chances are that the people have gone down unnoticed with any of these diseases? You will be shocked to hear that one or two of them are dead or down with the affliction. My personal experience has been quite frightening. It is unethical to disclose the medical conditions of others, especially close acquaintances on the pages of the media or else I would have given a huge roll of the dear ones I have lost in the past one year alone. The question is: has aset of epidemics descended on the land for lifestyle offences we have committed over the years unknown to us and our close ones?
As I have said, my alarm is that our governments do not seem to be aware of this thing that has quietly crept in, it seems, on us. In Japan, Korea and many Asian and European countries they have citizens where true oldies live up to 120 years. What are they doing that we are not that our people are dying needless deaths at very young ages? Is thereno way out for us of high blood pressure, diabetes and prostate cancer or enlargement?Are they a death sentence in our land?
Surely, individuals have choices to make because some of these diseases have their causes in individual lifestyle preferences. But the individual is severely limited. First, he is an individual quite alright and answerable for whatever comes to him but he does not live alone unto himself. He lives within a community of multiple individuals whose actions or non actions can impact him.
Some vital questions to ask are: What are the causes of these rising afflictions in our land? Arethey beyond scientific explanations?Giving our seeming helplessness in the face of these merciless ravagers of our land, are we condemned to live with them till eternity? The assault is truly humbling, if not humiliating.
We are facing a national health crisis and that is not what is trending in our country. What is, is, amazingly, politicians defecting from one party to another or them strategizing on how to form ‘’formidable’’ coalitions and working arrangement to dislodge the ruling government from power.
What is facing us is beyond the capacity of single individuals to fight for their lives. In other nations governments would have realised that it is something that requires national government effort. First, we need to focus attention on the things that lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, prostate enlargement or prostate cancer. Citizens may be individuals but they live in a social environment. What is it, for example in our social environment that builds up the blood pressure of individuals? Is it the noise level in our towns and cities? is it the lack of spacing in our living environments in both the cities and villages? Why are our people eating or doing or not doing or not doing enough of that is building their high sugar levels? Is there something in our genetic make-up that is responsible for incidences of high blood pressure, diabetes and prostate challenges in our male homo sapiens? What exactly is happening to us and what are the possible solutions? We urgently need the national and the various levels of governments that exist in our country to step in boldly and act intelligently to stop that plague that has come upon us.
Does the problem come forth from our habitation? Most Nigerians live in a terribly inhospitable habitation in uncovered gutters where smelly waters flow endlessly almost all year long.A look at some of these places alone is enough to build in tension in the inhabitants.
Our business climate is possibly one of the causes of these health afflictions. Lack of integrity, dishonesty, betrayal, cheating and other philistinism hold sway. These, surely, create tension in people.
What is the health plan of this government in power now? What have been the health policies of previous governments that came in before this one and previous ones before this one and ones?
