Doctors and the truth Talking drums: doctor-patient communication in a complex world. Shima Gyoh on the trials and tribulations of dealing honestly with patients who are often more used to dealing with their traditional healer

摘要

The doctor's code of ethics require that he must be truthful at all times but, do patients, particularly in Africa, always want the truth? No-one would admit that they would rather the doctor lied to them. It is obvious that truth is sweet when the news is good or hopeful. When the news is depressing or frightening, the story is not always consistent. Informing our uneducated patients presents a peculiar but common problem for doctors whose services cover rural dwellers that speak only their ethnic dialect. The vernacular often lacks the words the doctor needs to explain the condition properly, simply because many scientific words do not exist in African languages. There is need for the development of vernaculars and adoption and adaption of foreign terms to expand their lexicon to cope more comprehensively with modern knowledge, particularly in science. The doctors need to coin new medical terms in their mother tongues to describe medical conditions, at least for future generations. This is not happening to any appreciable extent. Rather, many African languages are slipping down a steep slope on their way to the trashcan of history.