“I had the naive thought that humanity can win” – An interview with Ashis Brahma
The PACT had the opportunity to talk to renowned and respected Dr. Ashis Brahma. He has worked in numerous countries for Doctors without Borders, is an expert on infectious diseases and is a proud lecturer at the Virtual University Uganda, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ashis, can you tell us a little bit about what you currently do?
I recently spent the day at a little conference, here in the Netherlands. A lot of people from various backgrounds discussed the future of medicine, more precisely the future of the health care system. We heard a lot about how innovation can change the medical system. At the moment, I spend most of my time here, no more travelling or working in conflict zones. I have a family, two children. But before that, in the past ten years, I lived in 14 different countries. I worked in India and Nepal. Uganda and Burundi are on the list as well. I have seen a lot, great and ugly. For many it is enough to be a normal doctor. For me, I used every training opportunity I could get, I wanted to have influence, create networks, and to transfer knowledge. That is why I stayed in Africa for a long time. And that is why I joined the Virtual University project.
The Virtual University Uganda – how is that project helping people, or is it even improving Uganda’s progress?
Things work a lot differently on the African continent than they do for example in continental Europe. Everybody works, it is hard for people to get a degree while working full time. By now, the internet has resulted in huge progress in Africa. Almost anywhere, you can go online. Hence, it was only logical that people cannot come to classes when they live and work in remote places, so why not bring the opportunity of working towards a degree to them. To receive a diploma, our students have two years to fulfil all classes. And if they do really well, they will get the opportunity to do a master’s degree afterwards. It is 100% online, they can access an endless library, and lectures are recorded. This style of teaching is the answer to local demands.
Is a virtual university the future of teaching?
It is the present, maybe even the past already. It has a huge impact on the individual, you can expose someone to the knowledge of the world. The future of teaching is a mix and match of the new and the old. So you read and you learn from each other, from others, maybe miles or even continents away. The internet has changed the field of teaching. But we need to make use of this opportunity. Why do we have to pay for studying? Online libraries can at least offer the knowledge. Knowledge is free. But time is money. In this regard, it is the teacher’s time. You can learn facts yourself but the teacher can answer and help, a teacher offers guidance. You cannot do without a theoretical framework as basis before being exposed to practical handlings.
You have lived and worked on the African continent. You have travelled many of its countries. You have seen it with your own eyes. In your opinion, what are the main challenges for the African continent?
“Challenges” – there are still many, I can agree to that. Many are caused from the outside but I do not only want to point to the West, which thinks it can solve Africa’s problems. Many issues are self-created and self-inflicted. It is a ‘lack of responsibility’ feeling of Africa’s leaders. It is a different mind-set: leaders have been around for decades and rather work towards filling their own pockets than solving everyday issues. On the other hand, we need to see the following: the number of physical conflicts between states and inside of countries has never been as low as it currently is in Africa. It has the highest amount of tapped and untapped resources. We never had more women who can read and write. Few continents have a replacement rate like Africa does. Populations grow. It has one of the youngest populations among the continents. There is so much potential!
You are an expert for infectious diseases, your knowledge on Kala-azar being one of the reasons why Doctors without Borders wanted to send you to Sudan once. Are infectious diseases underestimated?
Well, we live in a real world. Germs live in this world. And we interact with the world. So it is a vicious cycle. Especially with the globalised way of travelling and trading, diseases can spread a lot quicker than they used to. We may be able to cure diseases and eliminate some, but germs will always exist, we will never eradicate all of them.
Recently the Zika virus was all over the news. An outcry could be heard all over the world, people started to panic. Rightly so, or was it a hype without reason?
The health authorities should have been more forward. However, now we know it is a mild disease, 99 out of 100 affected will have a mild course of the infection. But we do know that it has worse effects on pregnant women, not on themselves but on the fetus.
The main issue I see with regards to infectious diseases and public hysteria is that nowadays there is no wait before going public. There is a competition to be first to publish a story. Hence, a journalist hears a story and publishes it. Back in the days, it took 40 days for an outbreak to be recognised. Now, with social media, it takes 20. And that includes the outbreaks in very rural areas in DRC for example, where a person has to travel three days before reaching a telephone let alone internet. With social media the clicks skyrocket through the roof and within a couple of hours the “news” has spread around the globe. People easily forget that not everything they read on social media is true. This is one of the reasons, why some people wanted to launch something called “Epicore”, which I have joined. This is a group of professionals that shall act as a filter. If there is a rumour of an outbreak of an infectious disease, those professionals spread all over the globe, can access the area and verify what is happening, and more importantly, if it is indeed an infectious disease, that has the potential to spread. It aims at taking away the hype.
In your opinion, would a new Ebola outbreak be handled differently than the last, has the world learned its lesson?
I would say it would be handled differently, maybe better, but definitely not perfectly. I give you an example: 10 years ago, there was an Ebola outbreak in Uganda. Everyone was scared. Since then there have been many outbreaks. There is still panic but the country has improved – they got more professional in tackling the transmission by breaking the circle earlier. If a country is used to outbreaks, they handle it better each time. So when outbreaks happen, institutions practice their reaction and improve their handling of the situation.
As an expert in disaster aid, what would you say are the main current issues?
People have to ask themselves – why do I help, where I help and will it help? I give you another example: the World Food Programme distributed food in Burundi. However, by night-time, the Programme’s employees had to return to their bases as they were not allowed to stay off compound. There were still rebels in the vicinity of that particular village. They plundered the village at night, and the following day the army came and burnt down the village, arguing its inhabitants were collaborating with the rebels. And now I am asking: how do you expect unarmed people to face armed rebels and deny to hand over the food provided by the WFP only hours earlier?
I am not saying we should not help. But we have to overthink our concept of the humanitarian sphere. We need to realise what we are doing. Another example: Doctors without borders pay authoritarian regimes to be allowed to take care of people in camps.
I could go on forever with examples. One more: people are starving in Ethiopia. And you know what? Ethiopia is exporting roses to Holland. Roses! Do you know how much water a plantation of roses takes up? And people are dying because there is no water. Same goes for food – goods are exported to China while the population is starving. And don’t get me started on the old regimes – how many countries has Sudan’s president Umar al-Bashir visited since the ICC indicted him?* And no one had the guts to arrest him. It is a general problem in the world. Weapons are sold to areas in conflict. A chicken in Uganda, which was imported from Holland, is cheaper than a locally produced one. There are subsidies in areas where there should not be any. There are trade barriers for products from Africa, quality demands etc. We can break it down to one thing: It is about power. Because Gabon has oil, people accept the political system. But as I said before, I do not only want to point at the West. Many problems in Africa are self-created.
You publish lyric and poems on your blog, announcing every post with ‘African Spring’ – what do you understand under this term, and what does it mean to you personally?
I started that blog when the revolution movements in Northern Africa began, which a great audience referred to as “Arab Spring”. Spring means blossoming, a flow of water. I had the naïve thought that humanity can win. I am an optimist and thought similar things could spill to Sub-Saharan Africa. The idea behind the blog was to write positively about the continent I care about despite me never being ‘African’, although I had lived and worked there for such a long time. But I was not born and raised there.
You lead workshops on ‘leadership during outbreaks’, what is your main aim during these and what long-term effects are you hoping for?
In general, I want to stir up people. I want them to practice how to make big decisions. I do not want to scare them, but challenge them to leave their comfort zone. A friend of mine said: nothing happens when people are comfortable. When you remove them from their comfort zone, magic takes place. And I believe in magic.
*Al-Bashir is the only head of state in office who is wanted for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Photo Credit: Jacky Westermann
