Rameshbhai’s letter in last week’s AV takes me down memory lane with bitter sweet memories. Those who grew up in pre and post war era in East Africa would readily share my recollections. Medical care was in its’ early stage. We had “Family Doctors” (FD) rather than GPs who enjoyed God like status.
Hospital admissions were rare, 99% people die at home, in their beds. Their surgeries were all inclusive, dispatching medicine by “Compounders” self-trained pharmacists, FD extracting tooth, performing eye test, minor surgeries like removing tonsils and appendectomies under unhygienic condition with basic tools that would sound barbaric today.
BP, Blood and urine tests were unheard of and diabetes was rare. Then average age was just 55 years. Civil servants’ could retire at 45. Perhaps it was blessings in disguise, as no one would suffer ailments associated with old-age, such as arthritis, Alzheimer, dementia and senility. But malaria, TB, typhoid and polio were common, especially in poor people who lived hand to mouth existence.
I distinctly remember losing two teenage friends undergoing such surgeries that would sound draconian today. But it was normal, taken as God’s wish. Alternate medicine, Ayurvedic and faith healings were common, as effective as conventional medicine with belief that faith would move mountains but fiddle-faddle, nostrum remedy in today’s scientific world. Even with these shortfalls, life was happy, easy-going and word “terrorists” was not yet invented.
Bhupendra M. Gandhi
By email
