It is not often that the value of one’s life can be determined. It is often said that one’s life is priceless and Africans also always emphasize the importance of life by stating that there is no bin into which a person can be thrown. Currently, the manner in which services are being rendered to us, irrespective of how important it is to the sustenance of life, depends on how deep your pockets run. Classism has infiltrated every sector of life commodifying every service necessary for the sustenance of life.
For example, the quality of the services rendered by the same health practitioner differs pending on the socio-economic class that work site serves especially in the case of their own surgeries vs public hospital hospitals. This trend alludes to the suggestion that more affording individuals are entitled to better health care than those who aren’t affording. This also sets a notion to polarize people towards private health care regardless how expensive their services are.
Some attribute this trend to the educational status of the patient such that it is assumed that patients who are dependent on public health care are less informed about medical malpractice and actions to be taken against it. On the other, the rise of medical litigation cautions health practitioners in the private sector to be more alert.
Similar models to ensure the quality of the services rendered and accountability by health practitioners should also be employed in the public sector . Such models are important for instilling corrective measures against medical malpractice; stricter medical litigations would serves as mechanisms that mitigate the risk of disparities, thus ensuring that everyone’s dignity remains intact regardless of their socioeconomic class. Government must also ensure it puts in place ways to prevent medical basic malpractice i.e. addressing staff and resource shortages.
The human dignity of a patient should never be determined by their socio-economic status. Commodification of services central to the sustenance of life is the biggest injustice we have allowed to occur in our Azania. We need to do better and live by the words echoed in our ethical oaths.
