Who Is Making Decisions? An Open Letter to Healthcare Professionals in the Developing World

The educational standard of people living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Ghana is relatively low. Thus, most resources of information about health available on electronic and print media remain to a large extent non-beneficial to them. They rely mostly on healthcare professionals to discuss about their health, illnesses, resources available for care, and how and to what extent the available resources can meet their needs and expectations. Some healthcare professionals in these LMICs, instead of taking the opportunity to carry out these educational and empowering discussions with patients and their families, assume a paternalistic role, making decisions unilaterally and involving them only minimally in providing care. This article, instead of being written as a scholarly referenced paper exploring ethical issues of autonomy and informed decision making, has been worded as a letter to healthcare professionals. Although it addresses healthcare professional in LMICs in general, it does not in any way imply that none adheres to these important ethical principles.