The Exposure Draft of Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012 is an attempt by the Australian Labour Party to consolidate all five existing commonwealth discrimination laws into one single bill. This includes the Age Discrimination Act 2004, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986.

In simple, the new laws make it easier for victims of discrimination to make a complaint. This is because it is now the ‘onus of proof’ or responsibility of the accused to prove that the discrimination did not occur. While some parties such as business owners have denounced this as an unfair shift of the burden of proof, social justice advocates have tended to look at it as a shared burden of proof where both parties ‘share’ the burden of proving or disproving. Legal centres that have worked with discrimination law clients such as Kingsford Legal Centre have welcomed this new provision which gives claimants a better chance of making a claim.

 A. Background

 Political instability, poverty and a lack of opportunities are forcing both Nepalese men and women to leave for overseas to find employment in growing numbers.  According to Amnesty International’s annual human rights report on the Asia Pacific Region, at least 300 000 Nepalese migrated for work in 2011.  240, 269 of these migrated in the first nine months of the fiscal year 2010-2011 which can be seen as a stark contrast to earlier years; for example, only 135, 992 left in the complete fiscal year of 2004-2005. The increase has been a result of the increased recognition of the economic benefits that work overseas may provide them, both as individuals and the state as whole. This has been reflected in the statistics that delineate how extreme poverty in Nepal has decreased by 45% in the past 15 years. Although initially, the bulk of migrant workers were mainly unskilled labourers, this trend has now shifted to include qualified professionals such as doctors and engineers due to the availability of better employment opportunities and salaries overseas.

Children everywhere get gastroenteritis. Indeed, diarrhoea is the leading cause of child mortality globally; namely in the developing world.

In South Africa, alongside the public (Western medicine) health system exist traditional healers who offer similar services. There are broadly two types of traditional healers. Inyangas: Herbalists, and Sangomas: diagnostician/Medium to the dead. Everything from winning back lovers to curing cancer is promised.

Children with viral gastroenteritis die from dehydration following fluid loss through vomiting and diarrhoea. Keep them hydrated and you keep them alive.

Children with gastroenteritis in Kwa-Zulu-Natal who are taken to see an Inyanga invariably seem to be prescribed the traditional enema; accepted and widely practised as a method of “cleansing”. The concoction may contain anything from herb plants, to toothpaste and shoe polish. Sometimes the preparation is toxic, sometimes it isn’t. It’s impossible to know. What is known however is that this practice endangers children either from its inherent toxicity, or by worsening dehydration, or by delaying presentation to medical care.

I’d like to share the story of X; a 3 month  old baby girl brought to the emergency department by her mother. She had vomiting and diarrhoea for 48 hours. 24 hours previously she had been taken to a traditional healer and given an herbal enema. Her condition deteriorated with poor feeding and decreasing activity, at which point she was brought to Emmaus hospital.

She was seen by the Paediatric nurse who attempted and failed numerous IV line insertions. 15 minutes after X’s arrival to hospital, the nurse attended our consult room, appearing frantic by this stage. The doctor and I had spent the night on call, it was 10:30 the following morning, and we were managing a patient who had presented with a blood pressure hardly compatible with consciousness.

There was no handover. Not an appropriate one. No one knew what dire straits this poor creature was in. Not until we heard it. That single feeble cry that makes your heart skip a beat. The Doctor began attempting to insert a drip into the jugular vein. Simple, life preserving water is what might save her.

She stopped breathing. The Doctor commenced bag & mask ventilation. I began chest compressions. All I needed was my thumbs. She was severely malnourished—Another Kwashiorkor baby. Her ribs gave way under my fingers. I listened. Still no heartbeat. Regurgitation of gastric contents under compressions. Nasogastric tube insertion + aspiration. CPR ceased at one minute. Pupils fixed and dilated.

...

One study indicated that in Africa up to 80% of the population uses traditional medicine to help meet health care needs. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the ratio of traditional healers to the population is approximately 1:500, whereas the ratio of medical doctors is 1:40,000. The ratio of traditional healers to population in South Africa is 1:100.

So besides availability, why else to people attend traditional healers? 

—  Belief in external illness influences such as spirits or ancestors

—  Long waiting times at hospitals.

—  Fear and lack of understanding of medical procedures

—  Privacy (no medical record)

—  View that herbal medicines are harmless and free of side effects

She was so severely malnourished, she didn’t have a fair chance. The enema. The delayed presentation. You wonder what could be done differently.

The only thing in our power to change, is ourselves.

What does it mean to me, this story?

This is the world we’ve inherited. Closing our eyes or wishing otherwise doesn’t change things. Suffering is ever present. Everybody suffers. You are born, and you will feel pain. That is certain. Should this make us angry? Should it humble us? Make us grateful?

Injustice. Injustice should stir passionate anger within us. It is unjust not to care. It is unjust not to be grateful.

It is our responsibility to firstly, be aware. Secondly to contribute in what little way we can. Through education, advocacy, donating, volunteering, making dua...whatever way we can.

We are the lucky ones.

“Thank God you’re here” was the common phrase that people welcomed us with.