Dear Editor,
I wish to empathise with Ronald Morgan and all those persons who are incapacitated and confined to their wheelchairs, beds and other dismal domiciles. These are often the outcasts discarded to the fringes of oblivion in this country.
I am therefore moderately satisfied that Mr. Morgan has gained some support from the Ministry of Health. I wish to commend this institution for demonstrating the wholehearted compassion which these people desperately need.
Mr. Morgan may not have reached his goal for treatment as yet but he is US$3000 away. This is a lot closer than some people in worse situations can get. Such persons as Melena Jafferalie, who died of progressive brain tumour and Mohamed Wahid Khan, the former RPA field worker, who still clings onto a tortured existence, hoping for similar financial support that will enable him to receive surgery for a progressively collapsing vertebra column.
The Ministry of Health and related organizations ought to be commended for their generosity but they need to do so with evenhandedness and consistency. Yes, it is necessary to afford Mr. Morgan some support as he is a human being with trying financial and social circumstances. Likewise, it necessary to provide some support to those like Melena Jafferalie (sadly now deceased) and Mohamed Wahid Khan. Who decides the eligible and ineligible? By what criteria? Are the latter two less equal? Are they less deserving for some reason?
I wish Mr. Morgan every success in his pursuit of help and treatment and at the same time, I implore the Ministry of Health and the government seeking reinstatement to exercise some fairness.
Yours faithfully,
R. Khan