Garth Rattray
MY JOB entails three basic things:
The dissemination of information to empower patients so that they can actively participate in their own treatment and/or recovery; (2) risk management through the practice of evidence-based medicine and (3) intervention if and when necessary.
I like to explain risk in terms of crossing a busy street. The more often you cross the street, the greater the risk (chance) that a vehicle may hit you down.
Although 'risk' is always present (people on sidewalks sometimes get struck by cars), you will significantly reduce your risk of harm if you cross the street less.
REDUCING RISK LEVEL
A good example is cardiovascular disease. It has been clearly shown that the risk of this disease is dependent on cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol intake, a sedentary lifestyle, family history, gender, age, race, cholesterol levels, glucose control, blood pressure control and body habitus.
People with bad indicators are at a high risk for heart attacks, strokes and other vascular diseases. They are managed with education and medication.
Patients who fall in the low-risk category will most likely enjoy good health, although there will always be a few who fall victim to naturally occurring random catastrophic events.
The point that I am trying to make is that it is essential to know your level of risk and to act decisively in order to reduce it.
The same holds true for the 'disease' of crime. We should also apply tried and proven scientific methods to efficiently engage this growing malady.
The powers that be should: (1) disseminate information about the genesis and solutions to crime thus empowering our people so that we can all actively participate in the healing and recovery of our nation; (2) practise risk management based on known crime statistics and (3) intervene with zero-tolerance policing only if and when necessary.
DEPENDING ON SECURITY FORCES
The government has consistently, and erroneously I might add, depended heavily on the intervention of the security forces to fight crime. So much so that we are constantly streamed with information about what the Minister of National Security, the Commissioner of Police and the Chief-of-Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force are saying and doing.
We never hear much about 'volatile' vicinities like Bryden Street in East Kingston until a significant number of murders occur and the security forces flood the area to make it safe for decent, law-abiding citizens.
But we should have long ago deployed social workers and educators to give tangible guidance and assistance to the families within those communities that spawn criminality because of their poor social programming and lack of basic necessities.
We should have flooded those well-known 'volatile' areas with counsellors for those traumatised because of violence. By the time the authorities intervene, it's too late and all that's being done is damage control.
ANALYSING STATISTICS
As far as risk is concerned, the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) 2004 murder figures show that 1471 people were murdered last year. The vast majority of people were from poor communities.
Leading the field of victims were potentially productive young men in the 21ñ 30 age group. Most of those murdered were classified as labourers (411).
The next most popular target group was the unemployed (222). A whopping 65 taxi operators were killed so were 53 businessmen.
I was shocked to see that 50 students were killed. They also murdered 55 farmers and 39 higglers, to name a few.
It is clear that the risk of being murdered in this country is greatest if you are a young adult male from an inner-city community.
Labourers and the unemployed are at significant risk of being murdered, so too are the poorly educated and the uneducated among us.
This is obviously no in-depth analysis of the crime statistics but in the same way that we use evidence-based principles to tackle medical maladies, we should also apply established scientific methods to fight crime and violence.
We need to move people out of the high-risk groups before the situation becomes unmanageable and the slaughter becomes so widespread and indiscriminate that every single one of us is put at grave risk.
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
