14 DAY TRIAL // Elected officials, occupying high-responsibility positions, should get an independent health assessment yearly, as well as full check-ups before their candidacy is accepted to various positions. Doctor Lord David Owen, a member of the UK House of Lords, said that this would make people more aware of how their leaders were feeling, and it might also explain some of their decisions. The lord says that people harnessing that much power should not be allowed to hide their conditions from the general public.
Owen cited the example of French president, Francois Mitterrand, who withheld information about his health from his people for about 11 years, during which time he was suffering from prostate cancer, as well as from metastasis in bones. What's even more disturbing, the UK official said, is that Mitterrand's doctor published false reports monthly, saying that the president's health was not threatened.
"If potential candidates knew they faced independent assessment and that they had a health problem then they would either not stand or they would make it public of their own volition," he argued.
In his article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Lord David Owen cites Senator McCain's conditions. The American official revealed some of the diseases he was suffering from, during the recently-closed presidential campaign, but he also withheld the fact that he was also suffering from malignant melanoma. Some medical conditions could be embarrassing, or might prompt unpopular responses, so leaders, including presidents and prime-ministers, prefer not to discuss them.
The author of the paper also cited a positive example of leaders coming forth with their conditions. In 1998, the Prime Minister of Norway revealed that he was suffering from depression, and, consequentially, followed a 4 week-long rehabilitation program, which allowed him to resume office. In the process, the people of the nation supported him, and awareness levels on mental health disorders increased, which prompted more funds to be diverted to this field, all to great results.
Owen says that revealing medical conditions should not be a reason of shame for candidates to high-offices, but, instead, it could be a way to attract even more popular support.
