15 centuries ago an Arabic poet named Tarafa, unaware of his impending demise ( a comical situation where he had to deliver his own assassination order) said about death and mortality in pre-Islamic Arabia;
أرى الموت لا يرعي على ذي قرابة
وان كان في الدنيا عزيزا بمقعد
I see death impartial to whom it befalls
Even if they are revered by a throne!
He reflected the reality of the time, the upper echelons of society and penniless bedouins had the same life expectancy. lack of healthcare generally was the great equalizer. in the 21st century that doesn't hold true anymore.
Every evening, I am shocked by the death of a relative, acquaintance, family friend, and occasionally a dear friend or a family member. most are either middle-aged or even young adults. half the posts in my High-school Facebook group are condolences to departed companions. We only graduated in the mid-2000s and yet so many perished by "sudden" illness.
Life expectancy in Somalia is one of the worst in the world, the difference between us and countries at the top of the list is almost 3 decades!. Many attribute our low life expectancy to ongoing violence, however, the expectancy is the same whether you live in Mogadishu or Hargeisa!. so there must be a variable that is similar across the board.
The good news is -if you think of it as good- if you survive childhood and few infections your chances are decent until you are in middle age and get your first heart attack, pneumonia or simply any medical emergency.
here is a practical scenario:
a 30-year-old man in Gaalkacayo steps on a nail, he goes to the local MHC (medical health centre) where he is looked after by a Healthcare assistant, the nail is pulled out and wound tended to but no mention of tetanus vaccine. a while later he develops severe tetanus as he was not previously vaccinated. he is brought in to the local hospital and an astute doctor gets the diagnosis of tetanus right!. However, there is nothing he can do about it in Gaalkacayo hospital. it's a death sentence!! even if he hails from a wealthy local family and they can get him to Mogadishu or Hargeisa in a private ambulance pronto, there is nothing they can do either. the best chance is in either Nairobi or Addis Ababa but he wouldn't make the journey.
Some of you in the west probably never heard of tetanus before but it kills few thousand young people and children in Somalia every year, with vaccination this number could be brought down to tens and good healthcare for the afflicted would bring down this number to a handful!
This is only one of many diseases that plagues our country.
this is why our life expectancy is low, poor infrastructure, lack of healthcare, lack of education, meagre economical capabilities, and instability.
The equalizer in pre-Islamic Arabia is now the great unqualizer.
