No one ever consents to being born.
In the same way, no one ever consents to being born into any specific country, under a specific system of governance, or any given culture -- how and why is it fair that I was born in a least developed country like Bangladesh when other, more developed nations had already existed all the way back in the 90s? Nations where life would have objectively been better for me in certain aspects (and subjectively been a whole lot worse in others).
I suppose, in some twisted way, that is where the beauty of life is: Its lack of certainty. But I digress.
One of the constant sources of editorial fodder in the Bangladeshi news cycle is the dire state of our health care. While the system itself might not be as bad as that of a lot of other nations (even some of the more developed ones), affordability and capacity are two issues that the industry has forever struggled with.
Anecdotes of family and friends not being able to get a hospital bed for their loved ones are all too common, and the less said the better about the practice of resorting to overseas travel for medical treatment for reasons as wide-ranging as a lack of specialists, quality of service, and (perversely enough) cost effectiveness.
One of the unfortunate realities of the centralization of our economy is that a brunt of our development, in any arena, is concentrated in the capital city, which extends to health care as well. This results in a veritable sea of people finding it even harder to avail health care services who are all but denied a chance to live healthy. Or even just live.
Given all these constraints, who in their right mind would consent to being born, let alone be born poor and, god forbid, terminally ill? Ah yes, terminal illness, an uncomfortable truth that we as a society have yet to reconcile with.
In a study titled “Making healthcare decisions for terminally ill adults and elderly in rural Bangladesh: An application of social autopsy” published in the Journal of Global Health Reports, one particular paragraph caught my eye: “[…] terminally ill patients were treated at home for three major reasons: No chance of cure of illness, financial constraints, or misjudgment of illness severity; or were discharged if admitted from hospitals prior to recovery or death for two major reasons: No chance of cure or financial constraints.”
Why must we condemn those who are already dealt the absolute worst possible hand by fate to further suffering?
On February 2, a man named Abu Mohsin Khan livestreamed himself from his home and spoke about his years-long battle with cancer and his deteriorating mental health before he proceeded to take his own life on air. After his passing away, the man’s son-in-law was quoted saying “please pray for Baba. May Allah forgive him.”
What exactly should Abu Mohsin seek forgiveness for, when both God and society in tandem failed him so miserably?
Unless you are equipped with the twin swords of wealth and influence, it appears that we are all essentially born into the grave, not limited to our own society. But there is potentially a way out.
A taboo subject in most of the world, euthanasia is slowly starting to become increasingly relevant, at least conceptually. It’s still illegal in most parts of the world, but seeing how health care itself is increasingly being considered a luxury and not a right, discourse on what’s legal or not sounds like nothing more than hollow distraction.
No one ever consents to being born, but we can consent to no longer suffer.
Rubaiyat Kabir is Joint Editor, Op-Ed and Editorial, Dhaka Tribune.
