I LEARNT an important lesson this week from my 10-year old son. The electricity blues hit us in our area as they do predictably and sometimes unpredictably from time to time.
Confidently I picked up my fuel jerry can and drove to the nearest filling station. The fuel attendant asked me if it was petrol or diesel that I wanted. When I said confidently diesel, he tipped his nozzle and began dispensing.
My son turned to me and said loudly, “Daddy, no…. no daddy…..mummy always buys petrol for the generator”. The fuel attendant looked at me and I looked at my son. I did not want to look foolish so I hit on a compromise.
I decided we should get the diesel for now and check the manual for the generator fuel type later. The two parties seemed appeased.
Considering the matter resolved, as you would expect, I promptly forgot. The following day the power blackout hit at 05 hours. I remembered that I had bought fuel and merrily went to decant it into the generator.
I had barely started when my very persistent son woke up and again pointed out that on top of the generator were written the words “unleaded petrol only”.
I rubbed my eyes put the jerry can down, got my reading glasses and read the warning.
I felt like what Goliath must have felt after being slain by David. Needless to say I spent quite a lot of time and money to correct my near disastrous mistake.
I had heard my son but I had not really listened and it nearly cost me.
I thought back and realised that many of us behave like I did, we hear something important on health, but we don’t really listen. We think we are smarter, we think we have it worked out and we think it does not really apply to us.
We suppose these messages are for the naïve and the uneducated. We consider ourselves sophisticated, with our prerogative being to give advice and not to receive it. After all what do they know, they were only babies yesterday?

1.   What are the main medical messages to listen too?

2. Why do we often hear these messages but not listen?

3.    What can we do to listen to these messages?
1. What are the main medical messages we need to listen to?
There are two types of diseases that are common in Zambia and two types of messages. The first groups of disease are those that are caused by things (germs), which are called communicable diseases.
The second type are those that are caused by us (our lifestyles), which are called non communicable diseases.
The term communicable means they can spread from one person to the other. The two main communicable diseases are malaria and HIV, as well as their related diseases, with malaria being by far the commoner of the two.
Some of their cousins or related illnesses are malnutrition, diarrhoea, tuberculosis, cancer and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
The two main non communicable diseases are hypertension (BP) and diabetes (sugar diseases).
Their related diseases or complications are kidney disease, heart disease, brain disease (strokes) and cancers.
There are many important health messages around these two groups of diseases.
However, I will summarise them into two key messages in each group. The key message on communicable disease (malaria and HIV) is prevention by avoiding or reducing exposure to the germs that cause these diseases.
The key message on non-communicable diseases (BP and sugar disease) is prevention by changing some of our habits.
How can this be done?
Reducing the risk to malaria can be done by sleeping under insecticide treated bed nets (ITNs) especially for pregnant women and children under five years.
Pregnant women and children under five years old are the ones who are most at risk.
It can also be done by having your home sprayed by your local council. This is called indoor residual spraying (IRS).
For HIV, some of the key messages are around sexual behaviour and sexual practices.
For young people, this includes delaying the first sexual contact as much as possible.
For married people it includes sticking to one partner for as long as possible.
There is a special risk in having more than one sexual partner at the same time. For young men, it is being circumcised as early as possible, and certainly before junior secondary school.
These messages are clear and have been enunciated many times over. In the case of BP and sugar disease which are becoming increasingly common, the messages are around exchanging bad lifestyle practices for good lifestyle practices. Among many this includes stopping to smoke and reducing your weekly alcohol intake; doing regular exercises such as rapid walking.
In addition, eating things you grow in your own garden rather than fast food outlets; eating white meat, like chicken and fish rather than red meat. Roasting your food or boiling rather than frying it.
2. Why do we hear these messages and not listen?
There are many health messages that we hear on radio or television. Some we see in the newspapers, on billboards and posters.
We hear these messages but we do not really put them into practice. Some people get insecticide treated nets and use them as fish nets.
Some people smoke cigarettes with the belief that it will help them lose weight and relieve stress.
People attend HIV workshops with enthusiasm, not to help with prevention, but to help themselves to the pickings on offer.
People spend weekends eating at fast food places, because they believe it’s what middle class people do to stay healthy.
The messages ring with a familiar and benign tone, as what needs to be said, but not necessarily what needs to be practiced.
When I was growing up there was a familiar phrase “fyaku sukulu ifyo” (Those things are for school).
This covers most of what many of us believe about public health messages, which is that these messages are for show; they are not really things you practice in the real world.
So one of the key reasons messages are heard but not practiced is familiarity. The more familiar it seems the messages become the more they are ignored.
Another common reason is indifference. This is a feeling that the message is corporate but not personal; that the health message is for the community in general and not for me personally. I can see what it is saying and I agree, but I have no personal obligation to do it.
In other instances, we have other beliefs which take precedence over the health message.
For example, we have tradition. Tradition is personal. It is part of who we are.
If the health message conflicts with tradition, then we discard the health message.
Many times people are disinterested because the message does not apply to them.
They feel they are too young, too old or too busy.
Several other reasons may be given why health messages fail to bear fruit such as ignorance, self -confidence and self-deception.
Whichever the case or reason, the truth is most health messages are generally ignored by most people.

3. What can we do to listen to these messages?
There is a Bemba saying: “Ubumibwaba mu kutwi”, which literally means that life is in the ear.
In transliteration, we would say living well is in hearing well.
Every time we hear messages on health and do not practice them we become more and more desensitised to them.
Their message ceases to have any appeal to us, or we become indifferent to it.
This is why we sometimes find that the people least affected by the health message are those closest to it, such as health professionals.
Some few tips on how to internalise these messages: first of all, try to make health a habit not a hobby.
How does one do this?
This can be done by integrating health into your daily life. Do not do healthy things occasionally. Do them daily. So exercise daily, eat healthy daily and practice sexual discipline daily.
Most people are ambitious about the future. They are looking for a better job, better education and a better business.
If this is your aspiration, then make better health your priority. You can only achieve the ambitions you aspire for if you are healthy.
So link wealth with health. Make health one of your top priorities. It will bring you the success you crave.
Many years ago, I asked a visiting emeritus (distinguished) professor what it requires to become a distinguished professor. His answer was brief but potent. “Live long enough”.
In short, stay healthy long enough.