Miscalculation

The 22nd FIFA World Cup gets underway in Qatar tomorrow, with more of a whimper than a bang. It was a poor decision to hold it there in the first place, a hot, arid country with little footballing pedigree and a population less than that of Greater Manchester. The only thing the Qataris could bring to the table was an obscene amount of oil money, some of which went (allegedly) to buy off the FIFA officials.

They only had one serviceable football stadium and have built the other seven arenas from scratch especially for the tournament, a process itself tainted with reports of the appalling and frequently dangerous conditions that thousands of migrant workers had to endure in their construction - intense heat, long hours, sub-standard accommodation, negligible health and safety protocols. At least forty workers died on site and many hundreds more were injured and rendered unable to continue. The Qataris refuse to release exact figures.

The intensely hot climate of Qatar means that for the first time the World Cup is being played in November/ December (average local temperature 75F) instead of June/July (average 95F), causing a hiatus in the domestic leagues of the majority of the 32 finalists and meaning that most of the participating squads have only had a week to acclimatise and adjust themselves to the location and the upcoming schedule of games. Even so, Qatar is experiencing a heatwave right now (90F), so it's  just as well the decision was taken to build air-conditioned stadia.

Then there are issues arising from holding the premier world footballing event in a strict Muslim country that has zero tolerance of drunkenness or the consuming of alcohol in public, that expects women to be decorous, modestly attired and deferential, and where homosexuality is illegal. Just two days before the event begins, Qatar has reneged on its agreement with FIFA and sponsors Budweiser to allow the sale of alcohol at the world cup stadia. It hardly promises to be 'party central' for the next four weeks! Understandably, many football fans have opted not to travel to region for the tournament because they object to the human rights record of the host nation and/or the dubious circumstances in which the finals were granted to Qatar (although FIFA had promised that the event would take place in the Middle East by 2030).  

'Sick exhibit #1'

Reports this week, from sports journalists who've covered many football tournaments, speak of the surreal feeling they are getting from this one, the almost complete lack of anticipation or excitement in the country at large, the paucity of fans, the absence of the buzzing atmosphere that normally accompanies a football World Cup. 

Even Sepp Blatter now admits FIFA's miscalculation and concedes that awarding the tournament to Qatar was a mistake. The inference a decade ago was that he and other FIFA officials had benefitted financially from the extraordinary decision to favour Qatar over other more obvious candidates. How the Swiss high-roller managed to escape a criminal conviction still defies belief - though he was eventually ousted from the organisation and has been banned from attending the upcoming tournament. Here's a link to my 2015 blog A Red Card For Corruption, tearing a strip off FIFA and its officials, and including 'The Attenuated Love Song of J. Sepp Blatter'. Please (re-)read it, (especially if you like T.S. Eliot). It's still topical.

Despite the tainted nature of the extravaganza, I hope that the England team does well. I shall probably watch their games on television. though I know many who will not, and I will also be rooting quietly for Morocco, a proper footballing nation, whose much more deserving bid to host the World Cup was voted down by FIFA.

'Sick exhibit #2'

Changing tack but staying on the theme of  miscalculation , I've spent some time researching a phenomenon that's been on the increase ever since lockdown. Lots more people are turning to the Internet to self-diagnose symptoms of illness. Maybe that's not surprising, given how long it takes to get an appointment with a GP, and given just how much information is readily available on 'healthcare' websites. 

However, there are inherent dangers in this approach. Most people search hoping for the best but fearing the worst. They seek to set their minds at rest about whatever symptom(s) they are exhibiting, but more often than not they end up convincing themselves they've got some quite serious affliction - there's lots of horrible options out there - just because they lack the medical expertise to be discerning. It's even got a name: impending doom syndrome. The websites always come with disclaimers, but those who become convinced by what they read online that they have a serious disease are then less likely to trust a qualified doctor if/when they see one, are more likely to attempt to self-medicate with inappropriate remedies or, in some tragic cases, are driven to suicide because they are overly pessimistic about the odds of surviving whatever affliction they think they have.

It's a miscalculation for individuals to put so much reliance on self-diagnosis by webpage, and it's a miscalculation for the government to deliberately under-invest in proper (accessible, resourced) GP services in the belief that it is a true cost saving. It ends up costing the NHS way more in the long term. 

A lot of the anecdotal evidence of self-diagnoses gone wrong would be funny if it didn't have such distressing consequences. We lay people are just too fallible, in some cases too stupid, and often are a danger to ourselves. I decided not to quote examples from my research, as they can be upsetting. But then I relented to share just one:

"A female patient was admitted to hospital suffering from pernicious anaemia and requiring blood transfusions. She had some months earlier been diagnosed with a condition that meant she couldn't make enough red blood cells. The physician prescribed a daily vitamin B12 injection (B12 is required by the body to make haemoglobin) and had given the patient her first month's supply. When that ran out, instead of going back to the doctor to get repeats, she headed to her local pharmacy instead, bulk bought vitamin B6 tablets and proceeded to take two B6 per day thinking it would have the same effect as a B12 jab. Of course it didn't, hence her hospitalisation. "

To round out the blog, a cautionary but reasonably light-hearted new poem all about the dangers of...

Fitting Your Symptoms To A Known Disease

First dizzy spells, then spots before the eyes,

that feeling of going weak at the knees,

loss of appetite, palpitations, throbbing head,

intermittent tingling in fingers and toes,

brain stem becoming numb - you falling sick

and the urge to self-diagnose, go online

to scroll through a list of afflictions is strong.

Of course you succumb, but get a shock

to find you might have any one of nine grave

medical conditions, all terminal at best.

As you read you feel a tightening in the chest.

MS, Parkinson's, early-onset dementia, 

MND or some malignant tumour in the brain. 

Blind or incontinent, wheelchair bound 

or going steadily round the bend, can you still

hope to command the affections of one

for whom your poor heart is heavy with love?

Thanks for reading, S ;-)