By Godson Eze (EV 2012)
To Beijing, to Peking, all the way we went
From the world’s south, thence they said we came
Through mailings and trainings, to preconference and symposium
No attempts to forget the Linguarama and fishing with chop-sticks
Amateurs though we were, from pots of sauce we did quite fish
Like a class action, like a horde poised to make a change
Everyone saying the same thing: Universal Health Coverage!
It’s on the global agenda. Yes! On the local agenda too
Now to every one stakeholder’s mind and mouth
Universal Health Coverage! Equity! Access! Utilization!
Reach them all! Keep them all in health and wellbeing!
Improve their health; improve their life is the chant
But this will sure cost something, in fact a great deal
Yes, a great deal
So who will pay for this?
Me, you, them, us…?! It’s a situation where one size doesn’t fit all
But I don’t agree, I don’t agree!
Hey! Who are you and with what are you at variance?
It’s I, the voice of ancient times past
Is it me, you, them or us?
It’s all of it: ME, YOU, THEM and US varying place to place
Do you have evidence for your new position?
Get your evidence, get your facts right
And be sure to compare against times past
Then we can scrutinize your methods and evaluate it for validity
And I hope you used RCT?
RCT?! Yes and No
As per methods, it’s also not a situation of one size fits all
It appears you don’t know there are emerging new methods and best practices?
Have you heard of Mixed Methods, Realist Evaluation, Performance Based Financing, Verbal Autopsies, Positive Deviance…I should stop, lest I inundate you
Oh me Gawd! This modern age
Yes, you should get your facts right
What I have said is that financing is for Me, You, Them or Us
And I have said Yes and No to RCT
Just provide evidence for what works best in your own circumstances
And we will progress from there
But Universal Health Coverage, we must achieve
Equity, we will keep in focus
By any and every means
Until we can sustain a smile on the indices…
So we came, we saw, we conquered
We met, we shared, and we bonded
Guys and ladies, skills and instruments, methods and styles
From the global south, all around the world
Great thoughts, grand ideas…all emerging forcefully
Remember that not everything that matters can be measured
And not everything that can be measured matters
Keep up the good work!
This is awesome Godson! Thank you for this entertaining piece.