Rethinking Our Recent Past

The good days of our recent past are recorded in the annals of our modern history,Among its accomplishments Ethiopia was well known for erudite physicians and surgeons in efficient and clean hospitals. I remember one Englishman who was a close advisor to a public organization saying that he found no difference between medical treatment in Addis and in London. He used to love the cleanliness of the hospitals, the in equipment and the civility of the medical professionals. Today, medical professionals who were once rate abound and hospitals and health centers have spread well over the country.
It is good that not only a few but also a lot of people are getting treatment at every corner of the principal cities and in the rural areas. But where is our "Bumrungrad" (one of the specialized hospitals frequented by Ethiopians and others in Bangkok) in the modern day Ethiopia that would, at least, fill the gap of the reminiscence of the recent past?
Brain drain continues to rob poor countries of their qualified health professionals despite plans to wage a war against the trend. Countries like Liberia, Zambia and Uganda, and many others are in the list Ethiopia is not an exception.
Yet, Ethiopia has a good number of renowned doctors and specialists still spread all over the country and concentrated sometimes in numerous private and public hospitals, as well as higher clinics and specialization centers in the capital city. However, advanced treatment is pursued abroad by some through the recommendations of medical boards, which is not a bad thing entirely.
This trend is not developed for the sake of extra-comfort or "?????". I was one of those who has benefited from such an arrangement. I had only done it because of the lack of a specialized center for the type of treatment I had to undergo.
Today, a lot of people frequently visit the U.S.A., the Middle East, Europe, South Africa, and most of all Thailand for special medical treatment. My worry is not so much about the form but the substance of the matter. By analogy, if a pea son is allowed always to always dine outs in the best restaurants, chances are that his taste for home cooked meals will diminish remarkably unless the recipe and the whole ambiance resembles that of the external environment.
As one should always give attention to niceties, and without denying the opportunity to visit foreign hospitals, I find it rather timely to remind those in the profession in to think about establishing an 'Ethiopian Bumurungrad' where patients from Ethiopia and around the people from come and get their treatments under the wonderful Ethiopian weather, in the midst of kind and considerate people, and in the soothing hands of Ethiopian nurses. All for a good price compared to that charged in overseas medical centers. It goes without saying that with the present status of Ethiopia as the home of the AU and other principal international and regional organizations and diplomatic missions, (the justification for such hospitals is strong) it is a befitting reward for our country.
This requires bringing together the best Ethiopian medical personnel such as physicians, surgeons, anaesthesians, laboratory technicians nurses pharmacists; all in all, professional women and men disbursed in the diaspora and locally, world class medical technology, and state-of-the-art infrastructure and medical centers. Can we not do that? I believe that under the present state of political will and nascent traditional problem-solving approaches, we can do anything under the sun.
We know that highly qualified Ethiopians in the medical profession work abroad. Some of them were compatriots who preferred to stay back after the completion of their studies abroad; many others were economic migrants.
The reintegration of these people through the millennium for a still wanting bureaucratic environment, will mean a lot to this country. After all, no Ethiopian, in my honest view ever hates his/her sweet country on account of any ultra-motive intentions except for some bureaucratic hurdles still prevalent and other passing socio-political and economic variables.
Therefore, Ethiopia can rethink her past through the present state-of-affairs and future trends, and may come back to it in a rather modernized and technologically advanced fashion.