Can the medical health practitioner, that is, a qualified medical doctor be considered as a medical science artiste? This question is moot, because, like any other human being, the medic is also in imbued with certain, or specific artistic attributes. But then, he cannot take medicine to artistic stage, a role belonging to the actor (artiste) gifted with the knowledge and capacity to expound, highlight, propagate and sensitize the general public and related institutions on the attributes of medical science, and the egalitarian role of doctors in enhancing ethics, professionalism and better health practices and offer services for all.

There has been a level of awareness between doctors, as providers of panacea for better health for all, and the beneficiaries who are the wider general public. This cannot be possible without some information and communication link. The artiste as a tool to fill this gap – the missing link.

Medical science is not a cut and dry affair. It is solid, it is real, it is tangible and has to be felt and experienced. It is not academic but is in constant state of flux. It has to create change even as it changes with day to day social and environmental consequences, not to forget physical and cultural constraints. Here again the artist comes in as a vital missing link. One doctor alone, no matter how committed and knowledgeable, he/she may be, cannot solve the ever evolving health problems of the society – in the varied fields of reproductive health, mental health, germs, vector borne diseases, bacteria, viruses, infants and maternal mortality and morbidity and prophylactics, compounded puerperal fever an incidences of nosocomial infections in a hospital. And last but not least, let us not forget that abortions, rape, accidents, battery and assaults during domestic violence are also, squarely a doctor’s concern.

In this respect, the formation of the “KISUMU MUNICIPAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT BOARD” has come at the right time when the important city of the Lake Region is beset with many health problems – unabating, incidents of HIV/AIDS, MALARIA, TIPHOID, CHOLERA, TUBERCHLOSIS and also MULTI-DRUGS RESISTANCE T.B. Unchecked pollutions of the Lake Victoria, the largest fresh water body in Africa, added to the water hyacinth menace, heavy metals, rotting of dead fish and algal blooms daily pose more challenges to the medical sector, which admittedly, is also faced with financial constraints and stuff shortage. Let us the people of Kisumu city say kudos to Doctor Rosemary Obara, the Medical Officer of Health (Kisumu Municipal Council) for the brain child.

There are key issues – problems – that needs to be addressed and redressed. But left obscure, there will be nothing to diagnose, nothing to lighten the symptoms, the damage, the cure and ultimately, the management and sustainability of preventive measures in place.

Here again, the issue of linkage crops up. The undisputed role of the power of spoken words and body language – the stage actors tool –to sensitize, to mobilize, educate and motivate the stakeholders to grasp the import of “BETTER HEALTH CARE FOR ALL” encompasses a vision and mission that defies those subtle sneers of masked cynics.

The art not only creates awareness but do also influence attitude and behavior change in society where it is often conceived that doctors only chip in when matters are out of hand. The arts afford the doctor with breathing space by opening a freer, more airy visita for broader penetration and spread of HEALTH FACILITIES FOR ALL. The artiste is the doctor’s mirror.

The linkage between the doctors and their daily practice and the arts (Narratives, poetry, Music, Dance and Drama and spoken word) goes without question. This inculcate the sense of obligation, responsibility, habit creation and effect attitude change to foster a better society and a healthy, prosperous people.

Art has, since time immemorial, been related to the sustainability of society in its various manifestations. Health promotion, access to it and its practice are all vital components of any working society and is a vehicle that allows for the formation of the basic foundation of a healthy community. Conventional health promotion techniques like teaching have proved to be didactic with very little participation or behavior change integrated individuals or community. Artistry is very interesting, pleasurable, memorable, vivid and easy to understand vehicle for the presentation of healthy information.

Doctors are very busy people. They have no time for duplicating role. And that little auxiliary prope by the creative artist is like live giving shot in the arm. The artist grandly fill the gap, because the artiste has the tool, the methodology and the influence of audio visual communication, in a relaxed, conducive atmosphere to reach far and wide and comfortably drift with the cloud.

THE KISUMU MUNICIPAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT BOARD, is an important entity that is obligated to create change in our community health delivery services and to add value to every body’s life. This is a daunting task where poverty orients, where ignorance lurks and constraints of social capital and fiscal shortfalls daily boggle the mind.

We have to be partners in health progress, complementing each others’ remarkable performances and achievements. The doctors and the artists need to reciprocally acknowledge each other, to appreciate each other at work for the betterment of our society. The doctors are limited often, in both space and time. Here, the ARTISTE can best assist the doctor to ease the pressure in all OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.

END

BY:

AKECH OBAT MASIRA
DIRECTOR
MISANGO ARTS ENSEMBLE
P.O. BOX 6111 KISUMU,
KENYA.
Google Search: obat masira
Website: misangoartsensemble.tripod.com
Mob: 254-726 164 954

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Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:11:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: Obat Masira
Subject: THE ROLE OF ARTS IN MEDICAL SCIENCE