“I have just been elected by fellow African Heads
of State to be the Champion of Health focussing on HIV, Malaria and
Tuberculosis in Southern Africa,” President Joyce Banda announced on her facebook page from Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia where she is attending the 50th anniversary of the founding of the
Organization for African Unity (OAU), which is now the AU.
When I read this I was compelled to join all those that have been
sending her congratulatory messages following the appointment, because this is
for Malawi not for PP or herself, it’s for all of us so spare us from all the
political humdrum we don’t need them especially where the honour is for Malawi
not individuals.
Having said that, let me put up some thoughts that are being whispered
in my mind. As somebody who has been working with local and international
scientists/medical researchers for close to one year now, I have developed a
passion for health issues. This is the reason why I am most of the times
commenting on the state of our health care delivery system.
In my job I have learnt a lot and I keep learning to an extent that I sometimes
forget that professionally I am a Journalist. I interact with scientists, read research
publications and chat with medical doctors almost every day.
To say the truth, with 1000 days to go before 2015 the possibility of Malawi
achieving the Millennium Development Goals is becoming a tall order each time I
take a look at how we are faring in the health sector. Indeed, the news that our
president has now been elected to champion the fight against HIV, Malaria and
Tuberculosis in Southern Africa is a welcome development.
Therefore, I would like to urge our president to start the battle back home
because there is a lot that needs to be done. Malaria and Tuberculosis are endemic throughout the
country and continue to be the major public health problem. Malaria is the
leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children under age 5 and among
pregnant women. It is estimated that Malawi experiences about 6 million
episodes of malaria annually (HMIS, 2011).
On TB, the Health System Trust reports that out of
the many cases of TB registered across Malawi, Over 70% are estimated to be
HIV/AIDS positive.
Talking about the HIV situation in Malawi Madam President, let’s
realise the 2009 Bingu dream of having locally manufactured ARVs for this is
the right way to go. I took time to listen to the speech made by Chairperson of
the AU commission Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma at the AU’s celebrations in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia. Zuma called upon African countries to prioritise research and
work on initiatives that will intensify the availability of ARV’s by making
them more affordable. She called upon African countries to invest in the manufacturing
of life prolonging drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Madam President, you may wish to know that having locally made ARVs
will not only save the lives of people suffering from HIV/Aids in the country
but it will also create jobs for thousands many others. This will also help
government in saving the much needed forex as we battle to recover
economically.
Not only that Madam President, like I said there is more work to do. The
health care delivery system is in a state of shambles. This is where we need
you to start from. As a country we keep
registering unnecessary deaths that in normal circumstances were avoidable. The
conditions in our public hospitals are unpalatable. Hospitals have stopped
being places of hope. Workers are no longer motivated coupled with the acute
shortage of essential drugs, poor facilities, in fact everything about the
system is dead.
For example, the past two weeks I have been frequenting the Gogo Chatinkha
maternity wing at queens where I came face to face with the reality on the
ground. During my visits there, I saw women bundled in wards with no breathing
spaces, the facilities, the beds, the beddings and everything looked bad. I couldn’t
believe that we are keeping human beings under such conditions more especially women
and Queens being a referral hospital we can do better than this.
The most touching part is the news that the Gynaecology department is
the most depleted department at Queens with no medical doctors under the
Ministry of Health working there. All the doctors there are from College of
Medicine who are most of the times equally busy with other projects.
Can we for once put politics aside and start putting our efforts to the
side of goodness? I could go on and on listing the problems that are facing the
public health sector which to me is one of the dead sectors in the country.
This sector needs urgent intervention, I would propose having a complete
overhaul because what we have on the ground now is no longer effective.
There is time for ‘chiwongolero amayi’ and trust me I will sing a lot of
these verses once I see that we are doing right things in the country. I know
we can but all we need is that political will. Once again Madam President,
congratulations!
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