Tche Irene Morikang
5 May 2008
In a bid to justify a campaign, officials generally come up with statistics; alarming statistics that demonstrate the gravity of the issue at stake. The figures are, at times, scary, once in a while questionable and sometimes unbelievable!
The health domain can be singled out as one of those areas where statistics have been used. And even abused! If this were not the case, the phrase "it is the number one killer" and "victims occupy half of our hospital beds" will not be used for virtually all diseases.
Unfortunately, these statements come up during virtually all health campaigns - malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, meningitis, common cold and catarrh...and, even, road accidents!
True, the overall goal is to raise awareness. But let's not be ridiculous! It is unrealistic that each time victims of one disease would occupy half of the hospital beds. This alarmist trend has obliged some critics to ask this question: who is fidgeting with these statistics, and for what purpose?
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