HEALTH: THE PRICE OF IGNORANCE VERSUS THE GAIN OF KNOWLEDGE – Pharm. Ebirim, Joseph O.

Health is wealth and the duo make a common finding in the wish or needs list of almost every human. Life is a priceless gift of every living being and a responsibility that must be shouldered with great care and effort for the benefit of self and other living beings in the society. Education at every level has been long agreed to be a panacea for development.

This development transcends beyond socio-economic, political or even religious development but in addition, health development is a great benefit and product of education and the acquisition of knowledge. The Holy Bible in Hosea 4:6 posits that “my people perish because of lack of knowledge.” In other parts of the Bible, the importance of knowledge is emphasized. Knowledge is a tool that has been used to unlock plenteous heart-warming, jaw-breaking and life-saving discoveries hitherto obscured by ignorance. Hence, the constant search and discovery of certain bodies of knowledge especially in the areas of science has led to the cure of diseases which were hitherto incurable, as well as the discovery of vaccines which have arrested the threat of so many life-threatening diseases such as yellow fever, measles, tuberculosis, etc.

There is certainly no end to the search for knowledge, for knowledge itself is infinite. This is true because every discovery seemed impossible until a determined mind doggedly pursued it and grabbed the knowledge of it. Sadly today, with all the joys and hope that the finding of knowledge has brought to mankind, many still unrepentantly wallow in ignorance suffering and sharing with the community emerging and reincarnating more virulent forms of infections, resurrecting supposedly buried pains of ill health and morbidity and in extreme cases, the pains of the demise of affected loved ones. A life is lost and all the good that these great but now departed men and women brought and would have shared with the world are lost in a flash. Down here in Africa and closer home, in our nation, writers are writing, yet the people refuse to read; the mega-phones are loud, blasting information health-based information, yet the people refuse to listen. They seem preoccupied by their vain and insatiable lust for fashion, food and drinks, easy and sedentary life - bad habits of the western world; the excuse that poverty is everywhere and we are in search of money is a common finding on many lips. But then, what about the wise nuggets that “health is wealth” and that “only the living can make and enjoy wealth?”

The ignorance of and non-adherence to health education has led to the following:

1. Increasing incidences of sudden deaths from heart-related conditions and stroke as well as poor management of hypertension.
2. Increasing incidences of abuse of hard and controlled drugs (cocaine, Indian hemp, marijuana, tramadol, codeine, etc) and alcohol among adolescence.
3. Increasing incidences of misuse of pain killers, antibiotics, aphrodisiacs, and stimulants.
4. Increasing incidences of Chronic diseases like Diabetes and Poor management of same leading to complications like Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) – a common cause of leg amputations and kidney failure. 
5. Poor management of HIV as well as stigmatization against people living with the infection – this has led to infected people hiding the fact that they have the virus and thus making the fight against HIV spread increasingly difficult.
6. Increasing incidence of various forms of cancer, many of which can be arrested when detected early. 

The list above is not exhaustive but suffice to say that in all these, the so-called wealth being acquired and saved while paying less attention to health education/knowledge are drained by and pumped into the Accounts Department of the hospitals. Sadly because of ignorance, many of these cases arrive the hospital so late that little can be done especially in the face of poor facilities in our hospitals.

However, there are gains to the acquisition of knowledge. These include

1. Detection of disease conditions early and proper management leads to better outcomes
2. Prevention of disease and harmful conditions – prevention they say is better (and often cheaper) than cure.
3. Better collaboration with healthcare providers towards improving on care methods and protocols.
4. A healthier and happier society where there is less frustration and people are in good shape to bring about productivity and acquire wealth.

Finally, you can acquire health education through:

1. Formal education at schools and colleges
2. Community-based Health awareness programmes
3. Studying health journals and bulletins
4. Surfing health educational internet sites and blogs such as pharmaguidedigest.blogspot.com
5. Consulting public health practitioners for health information, visiting pharmacists for drug information and education and visiting Physicians at WELL CLINICS for the purpose of health checks and other enquiries. 

A stitch in time saves nine; indeed a stitch in the acquisition of knowledge will save life a great deal. Life is worth living when we live today conscious of tomorrow. Knowledge calls us daily; the road to reach her is never rosy but every encounter with her leaves us all affected. Hence good knowledge begets good impact. Ignorance is a killer; a coward he is and so easily is he kicked away by the big boot of Knowledge.