Intellectual Bankruptcy
By Syed Kamran Hashmi
Westfield, IN
Let us think for a moment about a physician who specializes in Infectious Diseases (ID) and currently practices in Pakistan. Her total training time to become a fully qualified, American board-certified ID consultant would be roughly 11 years: five or six years of medical school education in Pakistan, three years of Internal Medicine residency training in the US and then two additional years in the Infectious Disease fellowship program.
During these years of extraordinary hardship, she was also able to publish a couple of review articles in a medical journal on viral illnesses. Her area of interest had always been the treatment of Hepatitis C — a chronic viral infection of the liver — in Pakistan and most of her patients therefore, in the present practice, carry that infection. She treats her patients according to international standards; she follows the guidelines, keeps up with their recommendations and has an overall 40-50 percent cure rate, a little lower than the international success rate.
One day, she was invited by a renowned television anchor in his show to discuss the treatment options available in Pakistan for Hepatitis C. (The chronic viral infection now is endemic in our country and almost eight to ten percent of the total population has been infected by it.) He reassured her that she was the only qualified specialist in the town and her expertise could save many lives and help the population at large to prevent future exposure. Additionally, he spoke highly about her publications and admired her professionalism. She must have been flattered to hear that her contribution was finally recognized and excited to be able to talk on the public forum. She gladly accepted the invitation and started preparing her presentation. She wanted to emphasize disease prevention, the latest research, current concepts and the different treatment options in the program.
Later that week, she went to the studio and contrary to what she was led to believe, immediately realized that she was not the only expert invited in the program. There were two more guests along with her to share their views in the show. One of them was a local ‘hakeem’ who had discovered a new ‘treatment’ for Hepatitis C and next to him was his patient, an automobile mechanic, who was cured of the ‘infection’. The patient was there to support the ‘local’ treatment of Hakeem sahib and had brought some ‘evidence’ to prove his point. It made her a little nervous; she must have wished she could leave instantly; nevertheless, presumably, she did not want to be rude and embarrass the host. Hence, she decided to stay until the end of the discussion.
The program started with a brief introduction about the rising incidence of Viral Infection followed by a short documentary on the prevalence of liver disease in Pakistan. Till that moment, she was oblivious about the real agenda of the program and was totally taken aback by the host when he asked the hakeem his first question, “Tell me about your new discovery? I am sure the whole world would be pleasantly surprised by your treatment plan for the illness with 100 percent success rate. I also want to know how an ordinary citizen of Pakistan without any ‘significant medical background’ unearthed a simple, an inexpensive and effective cure for a chronic condition like Hepatitis C.”
In response, the exalted Hakeem sahib described on live television in his broken language that his formula was actually straightforward: all you had to do was to boil some bay leaves in water for 20 minutes and then drink the solution for 30 days straight in the evening without a break. If you followed the regime as directed by him then, with God’s blessing, your Hepatitis C will be completely cured. Immediately after his remarks, the motor mechanic flashed his results of the latest blood tests in front of the camera that were negative for the infection. The Infection Disease consultant was shocked and speechless to hear all this.
What is wrong with this picture? Who is responsible for this insane behavior? And why is this inanity promoted in our news programs with the pretence of freedom of information? Obviously, the above-mentioned story is not wholly based on facts but is close enough to reality to draw some basic conclusions. We know it is not the story of the hakeem or Agha Waqar — another ‘genius’ who invented the motor engine that runs on water — or any other partially literate enthusiast who struggles to create something big in a short period of time. This is also not the story of the Infectious Disease specialist or Professor Hoodbhoy or Dr Samar Mubarakmand, who have spent years in research and education and have developed expertise in their respective fields. This is, in fact, the story of some semi-educated, questionably talented, doubtfully sincere and certainly immature television anchors who have discovered the Agha Waqars and hakeems, along with many other super natural healers and have promoted them through their prime time broadcasts to share their patriotism.
Then, this is also the story of our naive and broken civil society that does not protest strongly against their humiliation by medical quacks and pseudo-scientists. In the end, this is also the story of the absolute lack of understanding displayed regularly by some media personnel about the process of scientific innovation in the modern day, the concept of peer reviewed professional journals and the procedure of even the approval of a research study.
(The writer is a US-based freelance columnist and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com)
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