The Danger of Rejecting Modern Medicine
The scene opens with what appears to be an argument between Mrs Ayantunga and Dr Jolaoso. It turns out that Mrs Ayantunga, the wife of Mr Ayantunga, does not believe in genotype and blood group testing before marriage. She stated hat her own marriage ws not based on genotype but love.
She also did not believe that modern medicine was better than traditional medicine.
she said, "I can't be involved in anything that the Oyinbos, which means white people, are doing, as it is a form of enslavement."
Dr Jolaoso, being an experienced person, advised her to take her health more seriously. She explained that these medical facilities and technologies were there to equip people positively and improve their well-being.
Dr Jolaoso also explained the implications of an AS genotype marrying another AS genotype or an SS genotype marrying someone with an SS genotype. She used probability to demonstrate the possible outcomes.
Mrs Ayantunga asked Dr Jolaoso about the terminology SS and what it meant.
Dr Jolaoso explained that people with the SS genotype have sickle cell disease. She added that people living with sickle cell disease often experience episodes of illness and may have a reduced life expectancy, particularly when they do not receive appropriate medical care.
Sickle cell disease can lead to serious complications and, in some cases, death, including in children. She further explained that some deaths associated with sickle cell disease might have been interpreted as abiku in the olden days, especially when a woman repeatedly lost her children. People sometimes believed that the problem was spiritual rather than medical.
Mrs Ayantunga was not convinced by the explanation.
She argued that even if deaths associated with sickle cell disease were called abiku, they needed to consult the deities to bring the lost child back through another child. They could then give the child names such as Tiodunmo (no longer sweet) or Babatunde (the father has returned), believing that the previously deceased person had come back.
Dr Jolaoso was a bit sad and bitter.
She felt that, despite all her explanations, Mrs Ayantunga had not understood the real message she was trying to pass across.
Dr Jolaoso added, "Please, make sure you have a counsellor and plan your children. People now practise what we call family planning or birth control."
Mrs Ayantunga responded that there were better traditional methods that worked.
After that rather lengthy conversation, she went to meet her husband, who accepted her point of view over that of the doctor.
Two years after their marriage, Mr and Mrs Ayantunga welcomed their first baby boy.
They were so happy! He was born at a traditional birth centre. Dr Jolaoso, their knowledgeable family friend, never stopped giving them advice. She fully understood that most of her advice went down the drain.
At the naming ceremony, the newborn was given the names Olamide Ojumirayo. Olamide was a very handsome boy. Dr Jolaoso loved him and called him Big Daddy because he was chubby.
Dr Jolaoso also insisted that they must ensure the child received his vaccines at the various stages of his development, including the polio and measles vaccines.
They nodded in agreement, but exchanged glances that seemed to suggest that the doctor's advice was becoming too much.
At about the age of five, Olamide started developing a fever.
Baba Olamide, Mr Ayantunga, gave him herbal medicine, stating that dongoyaro (neem) would be able to cure him of any infection. He believed that it contained a high dose of gedunin.
As the symptoms persisted, they eventually rushed him to Baba Onifade, an herbalist and native doctor.
On seeing the child, Baba Onifade told the parents that it was a very severe case of malaria.
He began performing some incantations. All of a sudden, he stood up and went into the bush to get some leaves. On his return, Mama Ayantunga felt happy. They thought that the deities had revealed what needed to be done to him.
After giving Olamide the leaves, however, his condition did not improve.
Soon, he began experiencing stiffness, painful muscle spasms and other troubling symptoms.
Baba Onifade immediately referred him to the hospital.
Mr and Mrs Ayantunga were shocked. Hospital! They wondered why they needed to go to the hospital when the native doctor could do better.
They immediately called Dr Jolaoso.
On hearing the news, Dr Jolaoso asked, "Have you collected those vaccines?"
The parents were unresponsive.
Dr Jolaoso loved children, and she sprang into action, directing an ambulance to the native doctor's residence to rescue the boy.
His parents followed behind as Dr Jolaoso began to weep.
"This is too late! No, no, this is too late! I pleaded with you, but you had a preconceived idea that everything local was better than modern medicine. You are too egocentric!"
After the necessary medical interventions, Dr Patrick delivered the news.
"Your son is not stable. Unfortunately, he missed his polio vaccinations, and the tests have confirmed that he has poliomyelitis. The disease has affected his ability to walk. He may need crutches and other forms of rehabilitation to support his movement."
Ha! The news was too shocking for words.
"Ha! Had I known, I would have listened to Dr Jolaoso's advice. She kept disturbing me. She pleaded with us!" Mr Ayantunga lamented.
Dr Jolaoso continued visiting them afterwards, but they never made similar mistakes in the lives of Yetunde and Chelsea, their subsequent children.
Interestingly, during the last naming ceremony, Baba Onifade had been eavesdropping on the conversation between Mr and Mrs Ayantunga and Dr Jolaoso about vaccination. He was initially interested in the financial benefits of attending the ceremony, but he ended up learning something valuable.
He became interested in the advice on vaccination, particularly when he remembered hearing similar recommendations from a government health agency whose officials had come to administer free polio vaccines.
He decided to ensure that his own children received their vaccines.
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Polio is a highly infectious disease that mainly affects children under five. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in every 200 poliovirus infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those who become paralysed, 5–10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilised.
Polio has no cure, but it can be prevented through vaccination. Every child deserves the opportunity to grow, play and live without the threat of this preventable disease.
Let us protect our children. Vaccinate them!
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