A SICK WORLD

There was this bloke, 23 years old, and positive of Covid-19 (the Corona virus). He was in the Honiara field hospital bed and doctors felt nothing more could be done.

Except, hope in a sick world. 

World Health Organization (WHO)
Coronavirus, 2020 

 

Was there anything he wanted? Not really, he said. He had wanted to go back home to see his family, but he’d never taken the chance. He knew he had more days or weeks to live inside the field hospital.

Eventually, the physios had him walking up and down the corridors. He got motivated every day and he was looking better, ready to go. Who could argue differently? 

Quite frankly, he’s a SOPE – State Of Public Emergency. The fact is, if you are diagnosed (with Covid-19) in Australia, Europe, or Asia, you are twice as likely to die. And, if you are an indigenous Solomon, you may be many hundreds of times more likely to die. 

The message is obvious. While Covid-19 is no respecter of persons across the international community, irrespective of income or lifestyle, the mortality rate is far higher for so called developed countries. And it’s going from bad to worse. The best alternative, in which we can sustain ourselves, as WHO – World Health Organization said, is to get vaccinated, every single one of us. It’s that simple, they said, unquestionably, plainspoken truth.

In this regard, despite all the hand wringing by our leaders who felt unfairly treated, while others felt ignored out rightly, to the point of losing it – “the prime minister is always right!” The disparity, and our tolerance of it, is again, a national “disaster”, as usual, you know, Solomon politics. 

Now, one reason politicians claim not to hear such things is money. Rather than spend it, they argued, governments should prefer to insist they have to keep their budgets in “healthy surplus!” Whatever the state of the nation’s infrastructure, or education, or health, even Solomon Covid-19 cases are asymptomatic – from a disease that now kills more of us humans, than anything else.

Another reason for remaining deaf is a national system crippled by base politics. For example, how often do we hear Honiara and Auki bleating, on any given issue, over who should pay? Or, where’s our loyalty placed? China, or the USA? And Solomon? Or, should we carve our own destiny, as a people, of course, or ethnic groups? 

There are many stories, equally of hope and horror, personal and institutional, such as, Climate Change, Resilience and Adaptation, the China Switch, the Independence Agenda on Mala’ita, the Rennell Oil Spill, the Coronavirus, the Isabel mining operation, Justice, Violence Against Women, Active Citizenship, and Social Inclusion, all this, and “Unsafe Sexual Encounters!” 

What is extraordinary are the various multidisciplinary networks in our country, the DSE – Development Service Exchange, and NGOs – Non Government Organizations with their ugly stories from rural people – Simple farmers, and Able seamen. 

NGOs report, for example, adds: the rural people of Solomon have less exposure to health education, both through the media (less variety of TV stations, less exposure to print media) and through schools (lower average levels of education). 

There are substantially fewer rural public health clinics. Fewer doctors and health care workers limit the capacity of preventive care advice. 

It’s one of those occasions when things start out badly and never seem to really improve, like, here was our prime minister on the radio, and in newspapers, and talking to world leaders, and being the (War time / Covid-19 time) prime minister, being our leader who save the people of Solomon, by the grace of God, or so he thinks, and utterly believed in it, by Astounding Faith, obviously.

And what were the journalists reporting? Nasty little domestic issues! 

In Honiara, for example, the Sogavare government proposed a total ban on Facebook, on domestic political and economic questions. Let alone the use of obscenities, vulgar language, and vicious treatment of the prime minister. 

Commentators on Facebook had become obsessed with political power, the power of their tribe, group, or forum – the power of social media. Like, how could this happen? 

But it was too late. The ban on Facebook as a successful public relations exercise had soured. What most journalists (and commentators on Facebook) meant, presumably, was that with the government supposedly on its way out of office, they felt now was a safe time to put the boot in. 

I don’t know if the remark is accurate. 

But, I heard several lawyers claim, I know. Yet, it was said, the Prime Minister’s case with the official opposition, after it changed hands several times, marks the siege mentality now operating in the PMO – Prime Minister’s Office. 

Just as damaging for Honorable Manasseh Sogavare is the suggestion slyly being passed around that all is not well for the PMO’s Chief of Staff, too. 

Yet, what still festers most, two years after the event, is the way the mob, and those who run riot, almost unanimously, gave Honorable Manasseh Sogavare no chance of winning the 2019 prime minister’s election. 

A learned friend once said, it was obviously sub judice, and therefore “quite improper”. He was wrong. It was not sub judice. Imprudent, maybe, politically risky, certainly, But no, not sub judice. 

This is 2021, not 2019. The climate is different. 

People wanting and claiming to live in a democracy have a right and a need to know what is going on, and this applies to events, issues, and ideas. 

Example, the PMO’s “Black Jack” (the Chief of Staff) and the Democrats spineless cave-in to him was one of our great political stories that generations to come will record with gratitude that when a reckless politician wilfully endangered the security of our beloved nation, Solomon. The voice of our party was heard, strong and clear. 

So, cross the medical specialists' palm with increased taxpayers’ money, and help bring those COVID-19 mortality rates down, or community transmission out. 

It’s a sick hoary world. 

Henry Teho 

Honiara