If in a democracy such impunity can happen (even if it is eventually reversed by the courts, we hope), the autocrats must be dancing on the ceiling.
The world on 2025! Some chaos takes place and you think there cannot be worse, and then the next one happens and it is near apocalypse.
A revered Nigerian musician, the founder of Afrobeat genre m, Fela Ransome Kuti, once sang ‘Confusion’. Today, everywhere we see confusion, chaos, almost no evidence informed, humanity driven governance.
It is scary!! When with a stroke of the pen one of the most effective and impactful medical and health intervention, Immunization, is removed from the armamentarium of preventive public health.
We can only hope and pray that other nations do not follow RFK Kennedy’s ill informed example.
Joseph Ana.
HIFA profile: Joseph Ana is the Lead Senior Fellow/Medical Consultant at the Centre for Clinical Governance Research and Patient Safety in Calabar, Nigeria, established by HRI Global (former HRIWA). He is a member of the World Health Organisation’s Technical Advisory Group on Integrated Care in primary, emergency, operative, and critical care (TAG-IC2). As the Cross River State Commissioner for Health, he led the introduction of the Homegrown Quality Tool, the 12-Pillar Clinical Governance Programme, in Nigeria (2004-2008). For sustainability, he established the Department of Clinical Governance, Servicom & e-health in the Cross River State Ministry of Health, Nigeria. His main interest is in whole health sector and system strengthening in Lower, Low and Middle Income Countries (LLMICs). He has written six books on the 12-Pillar Clinical Governance programme, suitable for LLMICs, including the TOOLS for Implementation. He served as Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association’s Standing Committee on Clinical Governance (2012-2022), and he won the Nigeria Medical Association’s Award of Excellence on three consecutive occasions for the innovation. He served as Chairman, Quality & Performance, of the Technical Working Group for the implementation of the Nigeria Health Act 2014. He is member, National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee of the Federal Ministry of Health. He is the pioneer Secretary General/Trustee-Director of the NMF (Nigerian Medical Forum) which took the BMJ to West Africa in 1995. Joseph is a member of the HIFA Steering Group and the HIFA working group on Community Health Workers. (http://www.hifa.org/support/members/joseph-0 http://www.hifa.org/people/steering-group). jneana AT yahoo.co.uk