The tension between Western and African approaches to healthcare poses an important question: what should medical ethics look like for Nigerians, and for Africans more broadly?
The core tenet of the Hippocratic oath, the pledge taken by all new physicians at the start of their practice, is distilled into the first rule of medical ethics: primum non nocere—first, do no harm. But the history of Western medicine, and its ethics, which took root from the philosophies of ancient Greece, has been riddled with records of the medical profession failing to uphold this standard.
Over centuries, what has become standardized medicine was developed along the line of these philosophies, and when formally instituted in Africa, orthodox medicine was laced with the bitter pill of colonization, and Western ideologies about medical ethics.
As modern medical practices improved globally, medical ethics have slowly evolved to suit a new world where patients are generally better informed, and more aware of their power and autonomy. But in Africa, medical ethics cannot improve without acknowledgment of the core failure of Western medical models applied on the continent, which excluded and even eradicated African methods, and ideals, of healthcare.
Every year, The Republic publishes the most ambitious writing focused on Africa, from news and analysis to long-form features.
To continue reading this article, Subscribe or Register for a Free Pass.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
