Hidil @onlyhidil1 - Twitter Profile

I have been asked a few times what I think about Yeboah Agyekum Francis. I have watched a couple of his videos. Not all… My first honest reaction is that I was genuinely impressed. 1/ The first videos of his I watched were his explanations of Down syndrome and insulin resistance. I do not say that lightly. These are not easy concepts to explain clearly, even in English. Breaking them down in Twi in a way ordinary people can actually follow takes thought and real communication skills. So NO, I do not agree with people who say he should not talk about health promotion or prevention because he is not a “doctor” Or whatever the reason may be. That argument is lazy. One of my favorite online health educators is Jessica Knurick. She is a nutrition scientist and public health communicator. You don't need to be a doctor (MD) to talk about health promotion/prevention. I believe Yeboah has a background in Medical Laboratory Science. He clearly has a good grasp of the basic sciences from the few videos I have watched. If someone understands the science, explains it accurately, and helps the public think better about health, that work has value. In fact, I would take Yeboah Agyekum Francis over a hundred fitness influencers who understand neither metabolism nor evidence, yet speak with full confidence. I will pick him over the 100s of unregulated spiritualists, fake Mallam/pastors, and herbalists that have inundated our social media feed. We need more of him, not less. 2/ With that said, I only have 2 things I wish he would take note of ( Just a word of advice) Health influence is a serious burden. Once you build a large audience around scientific credibility, people stop judging you only by what you explain. They also judge you by what you normalize, what you endorse, and what you attach your name to. In health communication, TRUST is the currency. And trust is built on two things: accuracy and consistency. —— 2/ My first piece of advice is for him to be cautious about product promotion. I watched a video of him that looked like he was making an ad for a herbal product or something. That, to me, is a reputational risk. I understand the pressure that comes with a large platform. Once your audience grows, companies will come. Partnerships will come. But that is exactly why the ethical standard must go up, not down. A health educator should be more careful than the average influencer. The larger the audience, the greater the duty to avoid products, claims, and endorsements that may confuse people who already struggle to tell science from marketing. 3/ My second concern, or I would say advice, is his language of divine calling. You do not need a divine mandate to be a health educator. That is a slippery slope. Personal faith can inspire anyone’s work, and there is nothing wrong with that. But once health advice starts sounding spiritually mandated rather than scientifically grounded, the public may struggle to separate evidence & critical thinking from loyalty. Good health communication should always leave room for one simple question: Is this based on evidence? Mixing divinity and scientific evidence opens a gap for regulators. —— So what am I saying? I like what he is doing. I think he has filled a real gap that we genuinely need. But I also think this is the stage where discipline matters most. He needs to be careful about what his credibility is being used to sell. More aware that once people trust you in health, they may trust you beyond your evidence. And one final thought I would actually support the Ministry of Health sponsoring people like him to study public health or health communication formally. A platform of that size becomes even more valuable when it is matched by stronger training in epidemiology, evidence appraisal, risk communication, and behavior change. That is all X will allow me to write….

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