Albert Ablorh-Odjidja
June 13, 2015
Brother Andrews, as you have eloquently stated,
there is a need for education to ensure that if
this is really what it is meant to be that we
give it our full support. But without the proper
education and enlightenment, we will miss an
opportunity either to protect ourselves from
future outbreaks of this Ebola disease with the
vaccines, or open ourselves for further
disastrous outcomes relating to the same
vaccines.
On my first read of the story, I was not sure if
I was understanding what was really happening or
being reported, not so much for lack of
comprehension but for disbelief of what was
being reported: Ghana to Start Ebola Vaccination
Trials.
In all honesty, I was hoping that what I was
reading was not true. In hindsight it probably
confirmed to me the gullibility and naiveté of
my belief that my people are more intelligent
and will not allow such an experiment to take
place in Ghana.
After all, in a previous administration and also
in this current administration the government
took a stance on what it felt was right for the
people of Ghana and Africa at large when it
comes to the subject of granting LGBT rights, in
light of economic sanctions from other world
powers.
I am not stating granting LGBT rights is right
or not. The point being made here is that Ghana
took a stance.
But just agreeing to have the world of science
base an experiment on Ebola on your land and
people should not be all about health.
History, interestingly enough, has lessons for
us, for those that have read, and I am counting
my fellow Ghanaians into this lot.
There have been stories, tales of events in the
past, which can shed light on the possible
outcome of this ensuing public health disaster.
There is the tale of the Trojan horse, where the
Greeks built a wooden horse, delivered it to
Troy; Troy accepted and pulled the horse into
their city; and overnight….Troy was no more.
The horse did not trample over the city;
unbeknownst to the Trojans, hidden inside the
horse was a Greek army waiting to lay waste to
their city - an overall success for the Greeks.
Over the years there has been countless other
events, which if you would, can metaphorically
be labeled “Trojan horse syndrome." The Trojan
horse has come to mean any trick or stratagem
that allows party A to lure a “foe,” Party B,
into a place that may seem secure for now, only
to produce an undesired result for Party B, but
desired one for Party A later.
For starters, knowing who your, ‘foe” is,
usually gives one a leg up in preventing the
events that would yield disastrous results.
There is one case in history that attaches
medically to the "Trojan Horse" syndrome and it
is the Tuskegee experiment.
The Tuskegee experiment, an infamous, “clinical
study” conducted by the U.S Public Health
Service, from 1932 to the not too forgotten
1972, to study the progression of Syphilis in
African American men. Just so that I spell it
out, HEALTH became the Trojan horse syndrome in
Tuskegee case.
The recipients in this case were told that they
were receiving “free” health care. Out of
ignorance, many participated and many were
affected. Several African American health
workers unknowingly assisted and aided the PHS
to carry out its experiment. The outing of the
hidden agenda, to perform experiments instead of
the proclaimed health care led to federal laws
and regulations to protect human subjects in
studies involving human subjects.
The question has been asked, who was the “foe”
and who was the victim in the Tuskegee
Experiment case and why was the experiments
performed on only black men? Why did they focus
only on the Tuskegee institute?
After that question, with regard to the Ebola
Vaccine, we must ask why Ghana?
People must ask this question, especially those
that have been entrusted with the care and
wellbeing of its citizens. Is Ghana going to
take a stance, an intelligent, informed stance
on this Ebola vaccine issue?
Albert Ablorh-Odjidja
June 13, 2015
