Why medical ignorance is the deadliest disease —Marinho

A medical expert, Dr Tony Marinho has described medical ignorance as the deadliest disease in Nigeria and called for preventive medical and social advertising to save lives, livelihood, health and happiness of Nigerians.

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Dr Marinho, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, made the call in his lecture entitled, ‘Brain Paradox: Knowledge about Nothing; Nothing about Knowledge’ at the 20th annual Benjamin Oluwakayode Osuntokun Memorial Lecture at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

Marinho, the founding secretary, Educare Trust, said medical knowledge is more than power and since how to make healthy living choices may not be well known by many people, it should be placed at every point of advert contact.

According to him, “the transfer of medical knowledge to the patients/citizen is poor because it has no funding. It is considered profitless in dollar terms.

“Everywhere you look, there should be a life skill message. Economically, it pays corporate bodies to make every effort to keep potential customers alive and, being alive, they would buy the brand products longer.”

Dr Marinho, who declared that a more robust, multipronged effort is required to ensure ignorance elimination, called on medical professionals to come up with appropriate adverts to provide everyone with the knowledge needed to prevent life-destroying events.

According to him, patient ignorance accounts sometimes for treatment-resistance or failure of diseases such as peptic ulcer and hypertension.

He added, “Mass ignorance is a void fed by alternative medicine adverts and wall messages of elongating organs, curing impotence, enlarged breasts and destroying fibroids in seconds and solving cataracts by the traditional surgery even in 2019.

Dr Marinho cautioned Nigerians against inadequate intake of water, dry fast, unskilled delivery of babies, slap aimed at the face, heading of the ball during football games and high intake of oil in the stew.

According to him, the way individuals think about fasting is wrong and if fasting is abused, it can be dangerous to health.

He added, “Medical practitioners know that fasting from water can be dangerous to your health. I have witnessed a colleague dying from kidney failure from fasting.”

In his welcome address, Professor Kayode Oyediran stated that the aim of the Benjamin Kayode Osuntokun Trust in memory of the foremost neurology said the series of lectures was partly efforts to advance the frontier of knowledge in medical sciences in Nigeria.

Oyediran, a former vice-chancellor, University of Ibadan, said the trust had also been promoting and award medical fellowships and grants in neurosciences.

Chairman at the occasion, Emeritus Professor Oluwole Akande, said the late Professor Oluwakayode Osuntokun had played a leading role in the history of Ibadan College of Medicine.

At the lecture, awards were given to best final year graduate of medicine from the Ibadan College of Medicine and Master Diekolayomi Babatunde best final year student in the sciences at Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti.