Lasting solution to doctors’ grievances saves lives

It never dawned in the minds of many people that a simple strike by 229 medical interns at Muhimbili National Hospital, which started on the 3rd of January, would fast spread into a fully fledged strike by qualified doctors countrywide. The interns downed tools pressing the government to pay them overdue allowances amounting to 176m/-.

Though it didn’t take the government three days to pay up the arrears, the interns got the shock of their lives when they called off the strike only to be welcomed by dismissal letters. And, this marked the beginning of the whole saga as the Medical Association of Tanzania intervened, giving the government an ultimatum. Instead of engaging the medical practitioners and find a lasting solution, some Ministry of Health and Social Welfare officials scoffed at the ultimatum.

This led to bickering between the two parties as a permanent solution became evasive. And, when the impasse could not be broken, the doctors downed tools and are now on a countrywide strike of which if not urgently solved can also act as a spark plug for other strikes.

The strike has caused untold suffering among wananchi who risk losing their lives because they can’t access doctors. Private doctors are beyond the reach of many and their facilities will be crowded.

This has prompted Sikika, an NGO dealing with health issues to urge the government and the doctors to come to an agreement for the benefit of the ordinary person on the streets.

In a press statement released recently, the organisation’s executive director, Irenei Kiria urged the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) to urgently find a just solution to doctors’ grievances to maintain undisrupted access to healthcare services in the country, adding, “The primary roles of both the MoHSW and medical doctors are to promote the wellbeing of citizens and save lives. They should both effectively work to achieve this.”

“The strike is causing untold suffering to patients accessing public healthcare services, and it is Sikika’s belief that the Ministry had the time and ability to resolve and avert this crisis thus avoid the current consequences,” the statement read.

The medical doctors are demanding better pay, adequate equipment and improved working conditions to facilitate the provision of quality health care services in public health facilities.

“While Sikika understands that Tshs 4.5 billion has been allocated in the current fiscal year to pay allowances to medical interns, it is unclear as to why these payments have been delayed.

“Internally, Tanzania is already going through a myriad of social and economic challenges, resulting from poor planning and weak accountability. As a consequence, the Health sector has also suffered. To address our economic challenges we need healthy citizens, hence, increased contribution by the health sector,” Irenei said.

He went on to say that the ministry of health should seek to build its team to play its role more effectively in our society. “They must work together with healthcare providers to address issues of poor quality service delivery, health promotion, access and affordability. Participatory planning and budgeting must be implemented in order to reflect realities on the ground.

“Sikika therefore urges the Ministry of Health to urgently resolve its differences with the medical doctors in Tanzania and improve relationships with other medical cadres as well. The Ministry of Health has the responsibility to ensure the health of citizens, and in turn to contribute to the social and economic development of the country,” Kiria said.

The failure by the government to find a lasting solution is bent on increasing wananchi’s suffering. Many hospitals were declining to accept patients because it was impossible for the skeletal staff already burdened by those under their care to attend to fresh cases.

Doctors are already a rare species in this country as they are in short supply. The government should take decisive action to save the situation by addressing the grievances of these medical practitioners whose morale has hit rock bottom.

It is an open secret that many rural health institutions don’t have doctors and they don’t even dream of having one in the near future. This then means that the government should come up with ways of addressing the problem once and for all. There is no need to wait for the situation to deteriorate further as this might cause other health workers such as nurses to join the strike.

In fact, the government should not wait for workers to down tools for them to act. Prevention has and will always be better than cure. Doctors on the other side should not throw ethics to the dogs. They should work towards a compromise and make sure that their grievances are worked on while they are working.

It is therefore, important for the two warring parties to find an urgent solution to avert wananchi’s suffering and save lives, especially of the poor.

Of the doctors’ strike, Bunge allowances madness and defending the indefensible

One evening a preschooler, John, and his parents were sitting on the couch chatting. John asked, "Daddy, you're the boss of the house, right?" His father proudly replied, "Yes, I am the boss of the house." But John added, "Cause Mommy put you in charge, huh Daddy?"

Family politics is as old as the institution of marriage and in most cases, the two partners concerned, the husband and the wife will strive to have some influential power over their families. It has been a norm, however, that men, because of their strong physical stature tend to rule over their partners.

They declare themselves bosses of the house and society has accepted it. Traditionally, men are known to be breadwinners and heads of homes where they take care of their families. It is unfortunate that in most cases, some men are irresponsible and fail to look after their family. This is so despite having a good paying job and a stable source of income.

Some men abuse their families in the sense that they prefer to spend their hard earned cash through other means such as beer drinking, prostitution, gambling and so on. There are many families not only in this country but the world over that are suffering because of their irresponsible bosses, who happens to be the father of the house.

It is painful for children to fail to go to school and live in abject poverty while they have a father who is capable of taking care of them but fails because they are not his priority. This painful reality has seen many families crumbling as wives and children will not bear it anymore.

It is unfortunate that some children cannot strike against their fathers because they have to be submissive but given a choice, they will do it. When fathers fail to set their priorities right, by preferring beer and other luxuries, and fail to control unnecessary expenditure, then their families will continue wallowing in poverty. It’s a matter of a sad case of a poor family with a rich dad.

This is the same situation that many people in this country find themselves in. Tanzania is a rich country in terms of natural resources, minerals and so on, but millions of ordinary citizens have nothing to show that they live in a rich country.

The recent events in this country clearly describe the above-mentioned situation. The government is still mulling to award legislators a hefty increment in sitting allowances while doctors have downed tools begging that their grievances be looked at.

The Prime Minister of this country, Mr Mizengo Pinda was quoted by the media as defending the Bunge allowances saga. He said the 185 percent increment was intended “to help ease the difficulties MPs are facing.”

Though this is being done in good faith, the Premier is defending the indefensible. The government has to set its priorities right while at the same time deal with unnecessary expenditures. This comes at a time when doctors, countrywide, have downed tools vowing not to return to work until their demands are met.

The impasse has reached a point of no return and the old age adage ,” where two elephants fight, the grass suffers,” rightly apply in this situation as wananchi continue to suffer while the two parties continue bickering without a permanent solution. The government by the time of going to press had ordered the doctors to go back to work while they look at their grievances but the doctors were adamant.

Firstly, it is very difficult for the medical practitioners to resume their duties without something concrete as the whole saga had been handled unprofessionally. Had the government dealt with the problems facing medical interns diplomatically, things could not have turned this ugly. And at this moment this is tantamount na kukumbika pango baada ya kunyeshewa. If only they had dealt with the problem in its infancy the damage could have been mitigated.

Lives of many patients are at risk as the doctors cannot attend to them. Finding solace in private hospitals and doctors is not an option for the poor as they cannot afford it. What boggles one’s mind is that the government had the audacity to ignore doctors’ requests, a move that led to the strike while they are aware that the country is facing a severe shortage of these special people.

It also remains an open secret that training a single doctor involves heavy investment of not only money but also time. This then means that, the country cannot afford to waste any doctor as it will be difficult to replace him or her. Our forefathers were right when they said “ulichonacho, kichunge kisikuponyoke,” but the government seem to be ignoring these wise words as failure to improve doctors’ working conditions and salaries will fuel brain drain and worsen the shortage of doctors in the country.

Someone in the ministry of health is not doing his or her job properly. Heads should roll in that ministry or to make it easier, those responsible, starting with the minister should just throw in the towel. They have shown that they don’t have the capacity to deal with this issue. The problem is not small as they might think and if it takes long without being solved, mark my word, the strike will spread to other medical practitioners such as nurses. As a matter of fact, it stands threatening to paralyse the whole civil service.

The government should, in good faith, chip in and urgently address this problem. In as much as everyone needs a good and caring father who is capable of taking care of the family, the government should make urgent decisions that will bring normalcy to the medical field. Failure to do that wananchi will continue to suffer. God help and bless us.

IPP holds luncheon for the disabled

Hundreds of disabled people, on Sunday, thronged the Diamond Jubilee hall in Dar es Salaam for a lunch organized by IPP Media. The annual event that was graced by the IPP Media Chairman, Mr Reginald Mengi and other dignitaries saw the disadvantaged people in the society momentarily forgetting their problems by taking it to the dance floor.

Besides the food and drinks, the event saw prominent musicians such as Bob Junior, Alikiba, Asha Mashawuzi just but to mention a few, adding flavour.

Below are some of the pictures of the event.



IPP Media Chairman Mr Reginald Mengi talks to one of the disabled people who thronged Diamond Jubilee Hall for the luncheon.



Mr Reginald Mengi leads IPP Media workers in dishing out food to the disabled.




Enjoy your meal. . . These are the words Mr Reginald Mengi seems to be saying as he hands over a plate of food to an unidentified disabled woman.



IPP Media workers dish out food to disabled people at Diamond Jibilee Hall in Dar es Salaam.




A cross section of participants.




Bongo Flavour musician Bob Jnr, backed by his dancing crew, entertains the crowd.


Disability does not mean inability. . . These disabled people were captured by our camera showing their dancing skills.



Another Bongo Flavour Musician, Alikiba, of the Dushelele fame shows what he is made of.


A musical group made of a husband and wife proves that disability is not inability as they entertain the crowd.



You can have this one. . . Bongoblast seems to be saying as he serves food to the disabled.

Woman gets pregnant after having intercourse with dead man in a mortuary

Missouri

The Rolling Stones said it best, “You, you make a dead man cum.”

A 38 year old female mortuary worker is being held on $250,000 bond after becoming pregnant by one of her clients-a dead man.

The alleged crime took place at the Mourning Glory Mortuary just outside of Lexington, Missouri.

Police have charged Felicity Marmaduke with desecration of the dead and necrophilia.

According to a statement made to police by Marmaduke, the alleged victim experienced a post mortem erection while being bathed.

Being alone, Marmaduke straddled the dead man and proceeded have sex with him. Much to her surprise, the alleged victim came to orgasm after several minutes.

A few weeks later, Marmaduke had a positive pregnancy test while receiving a routine medical exam.

Upon telling her doctor the circumstances leading to the conception, the police were notified. Marmaduke was arrested without incident at her dilapidated trailer home a few blocks from the mortuary.

In a bizarre twist, Marmaduke plans to sue the dead man’s estate for child support.

2011: A special year that never was

“New Year comes every year but 2011 is a special one which will happen once in a life time. It will start with a combo, the first one being 1/1/11. After 10 days 11/1/11 while after 10 months it will read 1/11/11 of which 10 days later it will be 11/11/11. Isn’t that fantastic? I wish you a wonderful year and happy holidays,” reads a message I received on New Year’s Eve, last year.

I couldn’t help but marvel at the message because with all these unique dates, I just wondered what sort of a year it will be. I longed for it to be different from 2010, a year I described in this column as a year of disasters. But, as I put pen to paper and taking stock of the events that unfolded last year, then I failed to get anything special in it. It was full of misery and preventable disasters that claimed innocent lives. I could say it was one of the worst years for us as a nation as we had a lot of disasters striking us.

I remember the year started on a positive note with thousands flocking the residence of then once little known former man of the cloth, Ambilikile Masapila, or Babu wa Loliondo as he is now affectionately known. With a desperate nation seemingly having found a desperate solution to its problems, who could blame wananchi for a promising year that was about to put the country onto the world map, by becoming the first to discover the cure to the dreaded HIV and Aids.

But as days went by, the nation seemed to be the one in need of the Loliondo cure as a lot of strange things were happening. We had a wide range of problems, fuel prices began to skyrocket, daladala fares were hiked. The government agreed to pay Dowans a fortune that could have been used to better lives of wananchi.

As if that was not enough, the country had to come to terms with another unusual happening. The Mwananyamala madness, where bodies of ten babies were discovered buried in a shallow rubbish pit passed for a grave near the hospital. Though a lot of noise was made about, wananchi are still to be informed of the final findings and steps taken on those found guilt of the hideous act.

Before the Mwananyamala dust could settle, another horrific experience shook the nation; The Gongo la Mboto bombs blasts that brought Dar es Salaam to a stand still in March. I need not to remind you dear reader of how many people suffered while others lost their property and lives in the fiasco.

Then came the Zanzibar mass murder. Thousands of people are believed to have perished when a ship, Christened MV Spice Islander, coming from Malindi Port, Unguja on its way to Wete Kisiwani Port in Pemba capsized in the Indian Ocean along Nungwi coastline in Unguja South.

This was referred to as a mass murder because human error was blamed for the disaster attributed to a dilapidated ship and overloading of both cargo and passengers. To sum up everything, this disaster could have been avoided if everyone had played his or her part.

Then when we were about to enter the festive season, another disaster struck. Floods rocked the city of Dar es Salaam, killing 40 people and displacing over 4000. A lot of household property and infrastructure were destroyed. Again this could have been avoided if people had been prevented from occupying valleys and low lying areas. Again the effects could have been mitigated if people had taken heed of a warning about the impending floods.

These are just but a few disasters that characterized 2011 that claimed the lives of our loved ones. I had longed for it to be different from 2010 in the sense that I lost some of my beloved relatives, friends and colleagues but that was never to be.

Death is unavoidable but it remains painful, I don’t know whether it is to those who would have died but what I am certain of is that it is very difficult to stomach when it comes to those who would have remained.

And, looking at those who were around us, who failed to make it into 2012, should give us more reason to thank our God for being in a position to read this column now. 2011 has come and gone, we have so many sad memories but we should also cherish our achievements and good deeds we carried out in the same year.

Congratulations and welcome into the New Year dear reader. The trade mark of marking the inception of 2012 was not an exception. While some people went into churches to pray thanking God for 2011 and making sure that they thank Him for the New Year, some were busy running around the streets shouting, singing and making all sorts of noises. What interested me this time was the presence of the vuvuzelas. Yes, dear reader, the one that was popularized during the historic 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.

A group of young men and women made sure that everyone in our neighbourhood, especially those due to one reason had decided not to wait for the New Year and instead enjoyed their sleep had no option but to wake up because the noise from the vuvuzelas they were blowing was unbearable. I know each and every one of us has his or her own experiences when it comes to the New Year celebrations but what is important is that we have our expectations this year.

Don’t worry about the failures and disasters of last year, everything is now history. For those who are still to come up with their resolutions for 2012, time is still on your side and this year’s resolutions should help you maintain focus. Many people fail to achieve their intended goals but we should not treat that as a sign of weakness, but once that happens we should dust ourselves up and begin the race again till we attain that goal.

I know the year for most people has started at a bad note with pockets having been perforated during the recent holidays, where most of us celebrated as if there was no tomorrow. In a bid to please friends, family and at the same time maintain our status in the society, we embarked on a spending spree that saw our pockets being overstretched. Just like I mentioned last week that a disease had been ambushing us and now that we are in the New Year, the January disease is fast catching up with us.

Reality is fast dawning in our small heads that we needed to have preserved the little that we splashed during the festive season. January is usually a dry month, especially for the bulk of wananchi who survive on from hand to mouth basis. There is no reason for us to continue crying over spilt milk, what is important is to learn from our mistakes, pick ourselves up and move forward.

But, in our endeavour to survive under these difficult circumstances, it is my appeal that we make this country a better place for everyone to live in. My main concern is the fact that in most cases, it is the children who suffer the consequences of our misdeeds. My heart bleeds every time I am reminded of parents’ brutality against their own flesh and blood we reported in the media last year.

Many parents try to dump their frustrations and failures on their children whom they in most cases treat inhumanly. Let us protect these young ones for they are tomorrow’s leaders. Our failure to realize our goals should not be an escape goat to abuse children. It remains a fact that Rome was never built in one day and our fore fathers believed that ‘hata mbuyu ulianza kama mchicha.” Even if we fail to achieve our goals now, the best thing is to go back to the drawing board and start afresh rather than not only losing hope, but also let our children suffer. God Bless us this year.

bongoblast@thisday.co.tz/symeniah.blogspot.com/0657651300