Opinion
Analysis
Irresponsible medics a shame
The surging tide of crooked pharmacists and medical practitioners by and large
whose interest is to generate profits at the expense of people’s lives is a
menace in the country. The government therefore needs to make deliberate efforts
to backwash the wave.
According to recent media reports there exist unscrupulous pharmacists who
deliberately abuse their profession by selling strong drugs, which are not
supposed to be issued without a doctor’s prescription.
It is now a common practice for drugs such as prednisolone, diclofenac, valium,
halfan and others to be illegally issued. The country has reached a point where
as long as a patient has money he or she can obtain any drug, consequently
posing a serious health threat to those concerned.
The investigation conducted by The Express in Dar es Salaam recently revealed
that some pharmacies have gone to the extent of selling drugs that the
government has banned. For example, buying Chroloquine is still possible
although it was removed from the market due to its gross ineffectiveness.
The problem is increasingly becoming serious, and indeed poses a danger to
public health.
The most common problem is that many people, especially in urban areas, are
developing resistance to certain drugs. In Dar es Salaam for instance, where
malaria is rampant, the drugs, which are widely sold, have been proved resistant
and some customers are in imminent danger.
Moreover, some doctors, especially those in private hospitals, have not been
very careful when prescribing and issuing drugs to patients. Prescribing drugs
without proper assessment of patient’s history, for instance can be disastrous.
Recently there was a case involving a patient who had consistently misused
malaria drugs. The patient took several drugs without proper prescription. When
the patient went to a private dispensary for advice, having explained clearly to
the doctor the use of different medicines, the doctor advised the patient to
take Halfan tablets. The doctor did not even bother to weigh the patient prior
to prescribing the dose.
Unfortunately, these are the kind of doctors we have in some of our hospitals.
We think that the medical profession is a calling and whoever is in it should
work wholeheartedly and adhere to professional ethics. Even if one is not well
paid that is not a reason for abusing the profession.
It is our sincere hope that the government through its responsible ministry and
the Tanzania Food and Drug Authority take the matter seriously for the good of
the people of this country.
We can do it!
Tanzania’s sports loving Prime Minister, Frederick Sumaye handed the national
flag to the Tanzanian Olympic team picked to represent the country in the 2004
Olympic Games set to open this Friday in Athens, Greece.
In his speech at the farewell ceremony at Holiday Inn, Dar es Salaam, Premier
Sumaye told the athletes that they should know that every Tanzanian is banking
on them for medals as they did on Suleiman Nyambui and Filbert Bayi 24 years
ago.
As the premier said he knew that Tanzanian runners would face stiff challenges
from other athletes at the Games, but that does not necessarily mean they will
return home empty handed.
For about a quarter of century, since Nyambui and Bayi earned Tanzania the first
Olympic medals, the country has never again managed to shine in the Olympics.
Will this delegation succeed while many others who represented the country in
the past failed?
It is very possible since we have many experienced athletes who can make it if
they are really determined. We have seen our marathoners, Zebedayo Bayo, Samson
Ramadhani, Christopher Isegwe and Banuelia Mrashani winning event after event in
world-class events and so did long distance stars like Fabian Joseph, John Yuda
and the only lady Restituta Joseph. Samwel Mwera in 800m and 1500m also has an
impressive track record.
The members of the squad who have already won international titles will be
facing the same opponents in Athens Olympics too. Therefore, with a little extra
effort, our ambassadors can manage to bring us something from Greece
We hope the promises made by various well wishers, including Premier Sumaye
himself, will be fulfilled though financial motivation should not take
precedence over patriotism.
As we wish good luck to our athletes, we would like to remind them that in their
hands lie a unique opportunity to bring international recognition to Tanzania.
As the founding Father of the Nation, the late Mwalmu Julius Nyerere, once said,
“It can be done if you play your part”.
Exploitation, racism – what overseas domestic
servants encounter
By Evarist Kagaruki
Previously, we attempted to highlight the nature of domestic human trafficking
in which the plight of the victims bear almost the same characteristics as those
of cross border human trafficking. The main difference between the two trends of
the vice is that in the former it is mainly the adolescent girls who are
recruited, while in the latter only the adult girls are involved as chattels.
The other difference of course is that one is local and the other international.
In overseas human trafficking, the girls are recruited here in the country by
agents who promise them generous salaries and rewarding work in return for a
hefty commission fee. In most cases, the agents are people who may have lived
and worked in Europe or in the Arab world and have strongly established
connections there.
As life in “Bongloland” (Tanzania) gets tougher by the day due to harsh
realities of the economy, with problems of lack of employment and opportunities
becoming a nightmare, the young Tanzanian girls become more frustrated. They
dream of opportunities overseas. They are aware that somewhere in Dar es Salaam
there is an office, which arranges for jobs for unemployed Tanzanian girls (and
even boys). An agent who is smartly dressed and speaks good English will connect
them to that office.
There, the girls will be asked to fill in forms and pay some fees for processing
the applications, then go home and wait for the selection results. The
applicants are excited at the prospect of getting a good job, in say Holland,
Spain or Italy or in any of the Gulf States, earning a handsome salary, and
remitting some money home to support the family!
In most cases, these girls do not have the means to pay for their travel
expenditure. Even those that had the means, would normally not know where to go
and what to do once in a foreign country. This is where their vulnerability
becomes apparent and is ruthlessly exploited by the smart agent.
The poor ladies will hilariously tell their parents about the unfolding
opportunities on the horizon. Many parents will get very excited at the news of
their daughters going to work overseas. Thus, they are ready to part with any
sums of money (if they don’t have it they will go and borrow from friends or
sell some of their property) to pay for the travel documents and the commission
for the agents, hoping that they will get salary remittances sent home by their
daughters.
The recruitment agents, having signed the contracts from the prospective
employers overseas and selected the “right candidates”, will now be ready to
finance the initial part of the project of transporting the girls to their
European or Arab destinations. The girls would be handed over to their new
employers. Many of the girls securing work in the Arab countries will have known
in advance that they would be employed as housemaids, but some wouldn’t know
until they meet their employers.
There is an interesting story of a certain qualified young Tanzanian lady (she
had Advanced Diploma in catering) who, through a certain recruiting agent, was
offered a job as “Catering Officer” in one of the Gulf States, only to discover
the truth upon meeting her employer who had gone to receive her at the airport.
“Ah, who told you I employ women for catering services? I don’t own any
restaurant,” he told the terribly shocked woman. “But if you are interested
working here, I will hire you as my maid,” he told her without mincing words.
End game!
The young lady, knowing she was already indebted to the recruiting agent, and
unable to return home, as she did not have a return ticket, had no other choice,
except staying as a domestic servant; she had been duped!
Most of the girls who get employed as maids overseas are exploited and
mistreated the same way as most local domestic servants. In fact in Europe or
Arab countries, African domestic attendants suffer the additional oppression
deriving from racism, and the distress resulting from the loneliness in the
midst of strangers.
The “enslaved” girls soon discover that they cannot easily escape their misery
and look for employment elsewhere or seek legal redress because they have no
work permits and no formally signed contract of employment.