No new HIV infections in next 20 years: Motlanthe

No new HIV infections in next 20 years: Motlanthe: The government plans to bring down new HIV infection rates to zero in the next 20 years, says Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.

World TB Day 2012 is 1 day away!

World TB Day, falling on March 24th each year, is designed to build public awareness that tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of several million people each year, mostly in developing countries. It commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time of Koch's announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. Koch's discovery opened the way towards diagnosing and curing TB.

Stop TB Partnership | World TB Day message from Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership

Stop TB Partnership | World TB Day message from Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership

Shortage of TB drugs regrettable - minister

BY LYDIA SHEKIGHENDA

Health and Social Welfare minister Dr Hadji Mponda speaks on press briefing in Dar es Salaam yesterday on the status of TB in Tanzania. (Photo:Tryphone Mweji)

Health and Social Welfare minister Dr Hadji Mponda has expressed the government’s “deep and sincere” regrets over the acute shortage of essential TB drugs which hit Tanzania late last year.

The problem disrupted treatment schedules for some of the patients then admitted to Kibong’oto national Tuberculosis Hospital in Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region, who had to wait for weeks for the arrival of a new consignment.

However, speaking to this paper on the sidelines on a news conference on World Tuberculosis Day (tomorrow) in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the minister said the situation has since normalised following the arrival of the new consignment.

“The shortage was in relation to only two out of five essential drugs that are supposed to be administered daily to TB, but it did not affect the respective patients as widely thought,” he said, adding: “All did well throughout despite the hitch and most recovered after resuming treatment following the arrival of new supplies.”

He said the delay was beyond the country’s control “owing to the fact that there were only two companies worldwide that manufacture the drugs”, a situation further complicated by the high demand for the drugs from Tanzania and various other countries across the globe.

Dr Mponda was emphatic that the government was determined to ensure that enough TB drugs were available at all screening and treatment centres in the country and dispensed to the patients free of charge as per standing policy.

Kibong’oto Hospital ran out of the two drugs in mid-November last year, a development that threw patients admitted there into panic.

Reliable reports reaching this paper had it that some patients on multi-drug therapy fled the decades-old specialised hospital owing to the long-running non-availability of the relevant drugs and related services.

The Health ministry soon moved to allay public fears over the situation at the hospital, saying it was only some of the essential drugs that were out of stock. The drugs in question are supposed to be administered daily to patients for between 18 and 24 months.

According to the ministry, the treatment of MDR-TB patients was suspended on November 8 last year when the stock of two of the five essential drugs ran out.

“This was caused by delay in receiving the consignment of MDR-TB drugs from manufacturers, initially expected last month,” it said, days after The Guardian broke the story. Patients resumed medication in early December after the hospital received a new consignment of the two drugs.

Speaking at yesterday’s news conference, the minister said the theme for this year’s World TB Day is: ‘Stop TB in My Lifetime’. It focuses on the need to involve leaders, health workers, researchers and workers from both public and private sectors – “including journalists” – in the fight against the ages-old debilitating but curable disease.

He said over 9 million people in the world are diagnosed with TB each year, with the disease claiming the lives of over 2 million annually.

“The number of TB cases in Tanzania has been increasing on a daily basis. We had 11,000 in 1980, but the number had risen to 63,453 by 2010,” he noted.

The minister explained research conducted by the Health ministry in collaboration with World Health Organisation in 2003/2004 showed that HIV/AIDS contributed to the incidence and prevalence of TB in the country by 60 per cent.

Over 30 per cent of deaths among AIDS patients were due to TB infection, he added.

The minister said if the government had not taken appropriate steps to combat TB, the number of patients suffering from and succumbing to the disease would be much bigger.

“A total of 88 per cent of the people diagnosed with TB in 2010 were put under treatment, which beats the World Health Organisation-endorsed 85 per cent average,” he elaborated.

He said the incidence of deaths resulting from TB in Tanzania fell from 8 per cent in 2006 to 4.9 per cent in 2010, “which without doubt points to resounding success of the government’s efforts to fight the disease”.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

How to avaoid Diabetes

World over, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is in the increase.It is an emerging epidemic in Saharan Africa, the place that is a home to HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and other communicable diseases.This chronic disease affects people of all age, race and ethnic groups. It is by now a known cause of premature death.Being the leading cause of kidney failure, lower limb amputation, and blindness in developed countries, as well as increasing the likelihood of death from heart disease,diabetes mellitus is a modern-day scourge.Most cases of diabetes type 2 are preventable, while type 1 is genetic.The challenge is how to avoid diabetes. The steps below relate to preventing type 2 diabetes:

1. Note the different types of diabetes- ie About 90% of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes
2. Be concerned-Understanding how Type 2 diabetes impacts your life is an important part of motivating you to want to try and avoid getting it. 
Over-consumption of fructose and other simple sugars is a major concern in relation to developing diabetes Type 2. However, the specific kind does not matter as they all have the same effects on the body
3. Pay special attention to any risk factors for diabetes that apply to your life:
The risk factors for Type 2 diabetes include:
Obesity ie  BMI greater than 29
Age more than 45 years
Having siblings or parents with type 2 diabetes -genetic predisposition
A diagnosis of heart disaese or high cholesterol
Up to 40% of women who had gestational diabetes

Diets high in sugar, cholesterol and processed  food

Irregular or no exercise - less than 3 times per week 

4. Act early: If you have the risk factors associated with diabetes, it is important to get regular screening tests – simple urine and blood tests – and to respond by controlling your lifestyle factors. If tests reveal that you have "pre-diabetes" (metabolic syndrome), it means that you have an increased chance of being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the future

5.Change your dietary habits 

A diet rich in sugar-laden foods, as well as foods high in cholesterol, increases your risk for pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes development .The following dietary suggestions focus on do's and don'ts.

Increase your daily servings of fruit and vegetables .Aim for seven to nine daily servings of fruit and vegetables.

Eat good carbohydrates :Eat whole grains, whole grain rice, breakfast cereals with 100 percent whole grain content, whole grain pasta, etc. 

Stop drinking sugar 

Stop snacking on sugar 

Eat less fat 

Keep treats for special occasions 

6. Loose weight 

f you're changing your eating habits to healthier ones as a lifestyle choice, you'll lose weight with a lot less effort than if you focus on the deprivation-thinking of a "diet". Eat healthy and exercise well, and the weight will start to remove itself. 

7. Exercise regularly to avoid diabetes.

 

• Take walks during your lunch break. If you can walk half an hour each lunch for 5 days a week, you'll be keeping yourself fit and healthy.
• Avoid the rush hour by exercising near your work after knock-off time. Go home a little later, exercised, and unstressed because the traffic levels have eased.
• Get a dog or start walking your existing dog - dogs make it easier to exercise and are a form of responsibility that obliged you to get out.
• Walk to your local shops rather than taking the car. Unless you've got heavy packages to carry, walking locally makes good sense. It's a good opportunity to go with a friend or family member too, and to have a chat. Conversing while walking makes the walk seem shorter.
• Renew the songs on your iPod or MP3 player. Give yourself a great excuse to walk or run while listening to your music selection.

8. Return for testing. After 6 months to a year of improving your diet and exercise habits, return for a test to see how your blood sugar levels have changed .

• Always keep monitoring up with your doctor. Follow your doctor's advice.
• If you need help, consider speaking to a registered dietitian who can assist you with developing a meal plan.
• Consider seeing a psychologist if you have underlying emotional issues that cause you to consume too much or to eat an unhealthy diet.

Latest doctors` strike may be a sign of a bomb waiting to explode

BY HENRY MUHANIKA

18th March 2012

It is only a few days ago that the latest doctors’ strike whose impact to society is still being felt came to an end, after the intervention of our President.
At this time, when members of the public who endured the brunt of that unpleasant experience are feeling deserved relief, a person who dare suggest that what we have seen may be a proverbial calm before the storm is likely to be branded a pessimist, if not a trouble rouser, unless he presents his case convincingly. This is a challenge to be overcome in this column.

By the way, discussion on the subject is still going on in our midst, mainly because the first round of the latest strike was associated with about 200 deaths countrywide and much suffering of innocent patients.

Hence, there are all sorts of comments about the incident, some based on reliable information while others are derived from rumours. You then hear viewpoints which generate more heat than light, as one political analyst put it the other day.

There is a local English daily newspaper which this week came up with an eye-catching front page story with a headline which screamed: “ No more doctors’ strikes”.

A person with a few bucks to spare could not avoid buying this newspaper, as the temptation to find out who has discovered the magic wand to solve a problem of this magnitude is too big to be ignored. The writer was a victim of this newspaper selling antic and bought it straight. He has no regrets as the story gave him a theme for this commentary on silver platter.

In short the story was about President Jakaya Kikwete’s speech while addressing elders of Dar as Salaam during the week, his main theme being the just ended doctors’ strike.

He is quoted to have narrated the history of the strike and, as expected, used the opportunity to try and convince his audience that his government and previous ones have done their best to improve the working conditions of doctors and other health sector workers, only that the efforts are constrained by inadequate financial resources.

In any case, it is true the President said he expected the doctors not to go on strike in future, and this is where the “no more doctors’ strike in future” headline originated.

What is the basis for the President’s expectation that from now onwards a strike by doctors will be history? Analysis of his speech reveals two reasons. The first reason he gave is that professional ethics and the country’s laws do not allow professionals in sensitive areas like the health sector to go on strikes, as doing so may put lives of citizens at risk.

The second reason appears to be that, after all, some of the demands of doctors will be met and costs involved will be incorporated in the 2012/2013 national budget.

Now, the interesting aspect here is that on different occasions when the doctors have opted for going on strike, professional ethics and laws barring them from resorting to such actions have been in place - one may even say doctors are not ignorant of their professional ethics and the Hippocratic oath they take on graduation, even if not all of them may be conversant with the law which prohibit strike in professions of this nature. But experienced colleagues can guide them on this aspect in time of crisis.

From the aforesaid, we note that there are enough precedents to show that when workers’ frustration reach a boiling point, they tend to put aside matters of professional ethics and regulations as they opt to lay down tools at any cost.

Of course, when the most powerful government leader says he does not expect doctors to resort to a strike option again because the laws of the land do not allow them to do so, those who read such statements between the lines should be able to decode the veiled message - which is simply that the government has been lenient enough in the past and won’t hesitate to use the stick in case incidents of this nature recur in future.

But can this approach guarantee that professionals in sensitive areas won’t lay down tools when shortchanged while politicians, parliamentarians, administrators and others engaged in less taxing jobs enjoy better salaries and perks?

As we conclude, we may as well make it clear that those who consider the doctors’ latest strike as calm before the storm do not necessarily wish our country chaos but see signs indicating that workers in other sectors, who find it difficult to make ends meet, are too restless to guarantee industrial harmony.

Henry Muhanika is Media Consultant

Email: hmuhanika@yahoo.com

SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY

Tanga integrates mother, child health insurance fund in development plans

IPP Media: Living at Mikanjuni location, Donge Village in Tanga city, Ashura Omari, 37, has three children, Rama, Kassim and Mwantumu.

Apart from Rama – the first born, Ashura’s other two children were delivered by traditional midwives.

When the young woman, married to Choyo Salimu, a fisherman, felt labour pangs for her first child eight years ago, she requested her husband to take her to hospital.

She packed a pair of kanga and a kitenge in a bag and took with her 2,000/- which was all she had saved from fish sales.

On a bicycle, Choyo pedalled to Makorora Health Centre.

Cycles of powerlessness: How can we improve the health system?

By Dr. Hamisi Kigwangalla


I woke up today reeling from nightmares of what is happening to poor people in Tanzania. I was recently in Tabora conducting research on reproductive health, where I had an opportunity to interview a man who consented to participate in our research. He willingly agreed to share his experiences on the barriers to accessing reproductive health services. His distressing story illustrates the experience of many people across the country.

The whole story starts with this beautiful young lady who got married to this fine young man. The woman got pregnant after some time. She went to the nearby antenatal clinic for care and was advised by the health workers there to go to Kitete general hospital for delivery. But due to lack of finances the family decided not to go to Kitete and rather to go to a traditional birth attendant.

Unfortunately, when the day came the woman didn’t immediately notice that she was in labour. When she finally realized and told her mother-in-law, she was told to just wait and be strong, because she is a woman. So she waited. At night, the pain became aggravating and grew stronger and stronger. She woke her husband, who was fast asleep and drunk, but he assured her everything was alright and that she should wait as his mother had earlier said, because she knows better.

Finally, he noticed his wife groaning and struggling. They quickly awoke the whole family and took her in a cow-pulled cart to the traditional birth attendant, where they were confident that they will receive delivery services. When the traditional birth attendant came and examined the lady in the cart, she quickly noticed that the head of the baby could easily be seen. Upon further examination, she noticed that the woman had twins and that she had lost a lot of blood. Realizing she could not help, the birth attendant told them to rush to the nearby dispensary. It was very late at night and not even a single car passed that way. Suddenly the woman became too tired even to cry. Her movement decreased. The situation was desperate. The husband was sobbing and his cheeks were full of tears. Everyone was quiet, perhaps begging mercy from God. When the midwife was awakened, she quickly jumped off her bed and went to examine the woman. She noticed the woman had twins, had lost a lot of blood and that both the mother and babies were distressed. She opted to call the ambulance from Kitete and at the same time to infuse the patient. She knew she could not be of any further assistance.The poor woman struggled to wait for the ambulance to no avail. The husband sat beside his wife, weeping calmly, his heart full of guilt. As minutes passed, he became aware of the reality that his wife was dying. No sooner than the ambulance arrived, the woman passed away. This is a testimony from the husband.

To this moment, he still cries for his dead wife and twin children. He lost the three most important people in his life in one day. I listened to the story with a chill, as I became aware of the multiple barriers that so many people in this country have to face. These barriers contribute to “cycles of powerlessness.”

The first cycle is within the individual; he or she has to be liberated and enabled to demand for his or her rights. This entails a person who is confident and can make decisions about his or her life and his or her children. Unfortunately many people – especially women – remain trapped in this cycle by a lack of information and autonomy.

Second, a person must overcome barriers imposed by people who have the most direct influence over their lives; i.e. their in-laws and their own families.

Third, there are barriers imposed by the social environment (community) and fourth by the health system. All these barriers create a cycle that is difficult to break – particularly for poor women.

These barriers reflect the obstacles to achieving health equity for women and children in Tanzania. The fact that about 80 percent of Tanzanians live in rural areas, and that more than half of all births occur outside health facilities, compels a strong case towards reforming the health system. We must target improvements in primary health care in order to improve the security of the poor majority living in rural areas. The Government should direct more resources to strengthening primary health care services bringing them closer to the people. Will the budget that is going to be tabled next month in Parliament reflect this?


Dr. Hamisi Kigwangalla is an independent public health consultant and social justice activist. Call 0715636963

PAMJ launches a jobs and announcements portal for announcers

The Pan African Medical Journal
ISSN: 1937-8688 - www.panafrican-medical-journal.com.
Published in collaboration with the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET)
Now tracked by DOAJ, AIM, Google Scholar, AJOL, EBSCO, Scopus, Embase, Index Copernicus, HINARI, CABI, PubMed Central, PubMed, Ulrichsweb, etc..
PAMJ launches a jobs and announcements portal for announcers targeting health professionals from Africa and beyond. (Access PAMJ-Jobs here)
Announcers, why you should post your job announcements on PAMJ-Jobs? With a readership of more than 4000 unique visitors per month and a database of more than 3200 (and counting) registered users from more than 79 countries (70% in Africa), PAMJ Jobs is an advertising solution for recruiters targeting doctors, health professionals and public health professionals from Africa. How to post a job announcement? Just contact us at sales-service@panafrican-med-journal.com for guidance or fill our online quick Ad form. Information requested usually includes the start date of the announcement, the expiration date, the detailed content of the position and the contact information of the recruiter. What will happen to your announcement? Your announcement will be posted on PAMJ-Jobs and sent to PAMJ mailing list on a monthly basis. Monthly statistics (number and location of hits) will be provided to the recruiter; allowing him to track the penetration of his announcement. How much will it cost to post job announcements to PAMJ? Recruiters/announcers will be charged a yearly flat rate; this will allow them to post an infinite number of announcements in a year. A fee-per-posting is also available for once-in-a-while announcers. What else can be posted on PAMJ-Jobs? Other announcements like conferences, meetings, seminars, workshops etc... can be posted on PAMJ-Jobs. For more on PAMJ-Jobs, visit: www.panafrican-med-journal.com/pamj_jobs/ For quotation, contact: sales-service@panafrican-med-journal.com For other advertisement opportunities with PAMJ, visit: http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/ads.php

Uganda opens nodding disease clinics to treat children with nodding disease

Uganda has opened new clinics to help the thousands of children suffering from nodding disease, a mysterious syndrome that can be fatal.The disease is said to have affected most children in northern Uganda. The neighbouring countries are also believed to be affected by this disease, Tanzania and sudan in particular. The cure of this disease is still unknown!

Coke, Pepsi change recipe to avoid cancer labels

Coke and Pepsi are altering their drink recipes to avoid a California law requiring them to carry cancer warning labels, the Associated Press reported.The Global post has repoted that the soda giants are reducing the amount of 4-methylimidazole in their caramel coloring – a chemical that's been added to California's list of carcinogens.

Doctors suspend strike after State House meeting

By Florian Kaijage

Medical Doctors in public hospitals have unanimously agreed to call off the strike and go back to work, saying they have taken the decision to give President Kikwete ample time to solve their problems.

The dramatic shift came one day after representatives of the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT), an umbrella organisation for the profession, met with the Head of State at the State House on Friday.

Announcing the move to end the strike yesterday, the doctors also declared that the Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Haji Mponda and his deputy, Dr. Lucy Nkya were their biggest enemies.

“This matter was well communicated to the Head of State, that these two heads of the ministry of Health and Social Welfare have failed to deal with matters raised by doctors and they (doctors) have no confidence in them, therefore there is no way we can carry on working together,” MAT Secretary General Rodrick Kabangila underlined.

Kabangula insisted that the doctors’ strike did not aim at making the public experience hardships in accessing medical services but rather it was intended to push the government to improve the health services.

On the demand that the duo (Dr Mponda and Dr Nkya) should be immediately fired so as to pave the way for negotiations, Kabangila said this demand was not a new one as claimed by the government since it was among the eight demands submitted at the beginning of the crisis.

The decisions were announced at the end of a three-hour meeting held at the Don Bosco Hall, Upanga suburb, in Dar es Salaam under chairmanship of MAT President, Dr Namala Mkopi.

Briefing the media, Dr Mkopi said after extensive discussions with the Head of State on Friday during a closed-door meeting, they agreed among other things to call off the strike as well as giving the feedback to their colleagues.

“Doctors have heard the report from our discussion with the President, whom they thanked for showing a good spirit to deal with the current situation especially after he revealed how he was touched by the crisis,” the MAT president told reporters yesterday.

Mkopi affirmed: “Following this decision to end the strike we call upon all doctors to resume work immediately as we pave the way for the President to solve the current crisis.”

But the MAT president was quick to appeal that the move should be well understood among doctors, intoning that there was no show-off aimed at lining up winners and losers.

The main reason for ending the strike is to ensure that while the President works on the current crisis there is a positive atmosphere, which needs that doctors resume work “to rescue the crippled health sector that has suffered major setbacks since early this year.”

Other demands put forward by doctors were an increase of On Call allowance, introduction of risk allowance, reinstatement of housing facility or housing allowance as per Civil Services standing orders of 2004 and 2009, introduction of hardship allowance, transport allowance or loan facility for vehicles, rise of monthly salary, medical insurance, and improvement of medical services to minimise the number of officials who are being treated outside the country.

MAT president Mkopi said President Kikwete assured them during their Friday meeting that he was very aware of the demands from the disgruntled doctors to fire the two ministers but he insisted that he should be given time to act as he may deem fit.

The ending medical doctors’ strike begun on Wednesday March 7 following refusal to fire the Health Minister and his deputy.

As the probable strike loomed, the previous day Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda had addressed a press conference urging the doctors to change their minds as the strike would affect innocent people. He also emphasized that it was impractical for the doctors to compel the President act severely on cabinet ministers.

But on the third day of the strike, the effects were increasingly being felt, prompting the Head of State to hastily call a meeting with Dar es Salaam elders at Diamond Jubilee Hall only to be cancelled and substituted by the meeting with doctors at the State House.

The President was forced to intervene as the nation risked a paralyzed health sector as it relatively was for 17 days when public hospitals medical doctors went on strike from 23rd January onwards.

Then the strike was called off after the Prime Minister announced the suspension of Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Blandina Nyoni and the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Deo Mtasiwa, to permit investigation into allegations facing them.

Early this year President Kikwete stated in an article published in the Global Health and Diplomacy Magazine that: “Maternal and child health are at the top of the list. But we are governments of poor countries. There is a scarcity of medical personnel in Africa. The ratio of doctors to patients in Tanzania is 1:25,000 and the ratio of nurses to patients is 1:23,000. While the ratio in the United States is 1:300.”

He added: “Our government has taken serious measures to address this shortage of health professionals by increasing enrollment in health colleges. In fact, enrollment has increased fourfold over the past three years. In 2007 there were 1,013 students attending health colleges and now there are 6,713. Our goal is to reach 10,000 students by 2015.”

By mid 2011 Tanzania had 4,649 medical doctors and 377 medical specialists but about 80 percent of the specialists were at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam.

As doctors agreed to end their strike the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) yesterday issued a statement, arguing that if all professional and social groups follow the doctors’ style of calling for their political representatives to resign as a means to settle their demands it is likely the country will be in a shambles.

TUCTA reasons that almost all groups in the country have one or two demands that require the government to address, but demanding a leader, especially a politically responsible cabinet member to resign, is far from being the relevant way to resolve the contentions.

TUCTA sought to make sense of the doctors’ call for the Minister of Health and Social Services Dr Haji Mponda as well as Deputy Minister Dr Lucy Nkya to step down, saying this was an unusual negotiation tactic.

As the major organ for tripartite negotiations between government, employers and employees, TUCTA reiterated their support for the demands of the doctors but faulted their impatience for not allowing the government to work on their claims.

“The fact that the government gave room for discussion with the doctors and formed a committee to closely address their concerns and later went public and promised to handle the demands gave hope that it was willing …the doctors should be patient and give the government time to fulfill their promise,” reads part of the TUCTA statement

TUCTA Secretary General Nicholas Mgaya said that the politicians are not basically the core executives. “These are people who know nothing technical about what the doctors really want. They are just politicians, receiving reports and advice from their subordinates such as the ministry’s Chief Medical Officer. ”

He said when particular leaders like ministers resign, in most cases it doesn’t mean they are directly involved or have anything to do with the misconduct, they are simply practising collective responsibility.

Mgaya cited the example of former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi who resigned as Home Affairs Minister in the First Phase Government after his subordinates made serious mistakes, saying “Mwinyi’s decision was clearly not arising from his own mistakes, thus he later ascended to the presidency.”

Mgaya said he didn’t see any reason for doctors to hold the ministers accountable and advised they should instead put more emphasis on the needs related to their employment and working conditions.

TUCTA warned though that when civil servants are ready for “whatever may come,” it is not a good sign for the nation and the situation sends a message that there are two social groups in the nation, namely the exploiters and the exploited

As the umbrella union appealed to doctors through the media to resume duties at health centres, the doctors were also holding a meeting with the media at the Don Bosco centre following the audience of MAT with President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday.

• Meanwhile, as doctors were meeting to announce their resolution following their meeting with President Kikwete, a handful of them showed up in some hospitals in Dar es Salaam and attended to patients who needed emergence service.

• At Ilala hospital, a few patients who spoke to The Guardian on Sunday admitted to have been treated but said only a few doctors were present compared to the days when there was no strike.

• Dr Christopher Mnzava, head of emergency unit, said: “We are attending to referred patients and doctors continue to come…the situation is not as bad as some media are reporting. If you say the situation is critical, then tell us the number of deaths.

• “But I allow you to go to the mortuary and observe the situation by yourselves.”

• At the mortuary, the medical attendant Yolanda Wana said the number of deaths is much like that of any other day when we receive a maximum of five bodies. He added: “Yesterday there were ten bodies because relatives had not picked them up.”

SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY

President Kikwete meets with striking doctors at state house

Fake malaria drugs flood Tanzania

By ALVAR MWAKYUSA, 6th March 2011 @ 11:00, Total Comments: 0, Hits: 2738

ALMOST a third of anti-malaria drugs sold in Tanzania are substandard, according to the latest survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

This means that at least three out of ten people prescribed to use antimalarials in the country are administered with inferior medicines.

Malaria is the leading cause of deaths and disease burden in Tanzania. It accounts for about 40 per cent of all outpatient attendances.

According to the findings of the survey, one in ten samples showed "extreme" deviations in active ingredients or other standards, which could have life threatening implications.

The survey, called 'Assessment of Medicines regulatory systems in sub-Saharan African countries,' synthesized findings of rapid assessments performed at national medicines regulatory authorities (NMRAs) in 26 countries over the last eight years between 2002 and 2009.

Released on February 25 this year, the report also mentions Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria as countries whose markets are flooded with substandard anti-malaria drugs, just like Tanzania.

Although the health implications of failing drugs was not examined in the survey, WHO did not distinguish between counterfeit and substandard drugs in its overall statistics, the organisation said the results should not be regarded as "catastrophic" in health terms.

Contacted for comment yesterday, the Chief Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Deo Mtasiwa, said the ministry was unaware of the survey.

"I have not heard about it yet... I will follow up with other departments in the ministry tomorrow (today) to find out," he pledged during a telephone interview yesterday.

The Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) Acting Director General, Mr Hiiti Sillo, who was in Geneva, Switzerland during the launching of the report, said he will comment on the matter today.

"I am attending a meeting at this time, call me tomorrow, I will be in a better position to comment," he said.

It was also learnt during the survey that countries with domestic production of antimalarials fared slightly worse.

"It seems that regulators are focusing mainly on the quality of imports," said Jitko Sabatova, the WHO's technical officer responsible for pre-qualification of quality control labs.

Sabatova noted also that countries with the smallest number of suppliers to the market tended to have lower failure rates while the report pointed to important gaps in regulation and quality control within countries.

The highest incidence of failure was in Nigeria, with two-thirds of all samples failing WHO quality tests.

"That means in Nigeria a patient is more likely to be treated with a substandard drug than one which meets quality specifications," said Lembit Rago, the WHO's coordinator for quality assurance and medicines safety.

Ghana and Cameroon, with failure rates of 39 per cent and 37 per cent respectively, are not doing particularly well either.

Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania fared better, with failure rates of below 11 per cent. In these countries the WHO regards the quality of antimalarials to be reasonably under control. In Ethiopia no samples failed, in part because of a tight regulatory regime.

Kenya's failure rate of five per cent was a big improvement from studies carried out in 2003 when the failure rate for some samples was as high as 54 per cent.

taarifa ya MAT ya kuendelea na mgomo

THE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF TANZANIA

MSIMAMO JUU YA UTEKELEZAJI WA MADAI YA MADAKTARI

Kama tulivyotoa taarifa kwenye kikao cha Madaktari cha Machi 3, 2012 ni kwamba makubaliano yaliyofikiwa na hatimaye kutiwa saini kati ya Serikali na Madaktari tarehe 2.3.2012 ni kuwa, ili meza ya mazungumzo ya kujadili madai ya Madaktari iweze kuendelea na hatua ya pili, ni lazima Waziri wa Afya (Dkt. Mponda) na Naibu wake (Dkt. Lucy Nkya) ama wajiuzulu au wawajibishwe kama ilivyokuwa imeahidiwa na Mh. Waziri Mkuu Februari 9, 2012 alipofanya kikao na Watumishi wa Afya pale Hospitali ya Taifa, Muhimbili.

Aidha, kulingana na makubaliano haya, kikwazo kikubwa cha kutokuendelea kwa majadiliano ya madai ya Madaktari (Uboreshaji wa huduma wapatazo wagonjwa, mazingira mazuri ya kufanyia kazi na maslahi kwa ujumla wake) ni kuendelea kuwepo kwa Dkt. Mponda na Dkt. Lucy Nkya kweney nafasi zao za Kiuongozi.

Hivyo basi, kwenye huo mkutano wa Machi 3, 2012, baada ya majadiliano na tafakari za kina, ilikubaliwa kwa pamoja kuwa watu hawa wawili wanatakiwa kuachia ngazi mara moja ili haki za wagonjwa na madai ya Madaktari yaweze kujadiliwa na kutekelezwa.

Hivyo basi, iliamuliwa kuwa kama mpaka siku ya Jumatano, Machi 7, 2012 bado akina Dkt. Mponda na Dkt. Lucy Nkya watakuwa bado wapo madarakani, wataanza mgomo rasmi kushinikiza ama wajiuzulu au wawajibishwe ili taratibu nyingine ziweze kuanza.

Kama ilivyo taratibu ya chama kutoa taarifa kwa wanachama kote nchini, ifahamike kwamba mkutano uliamua kuwa Madaktari wote kuwa kuanzia Jumatano (Machi 7, 2012) watasitisha kutoa huduma zote za afya katika hospitali zote nchini mpaka hapo Serikali itakapoonesha utayari kwa kutimiza ahadi yake ya kuwawajibisha watajwa hapo juu ili hatua nyingine za utekelezaji wa madai ya Madaktari kwa manufaa ya Taifa yawze kuanza kushughulikiwa.

Ifahamike kwamba chama kinasikitishwa sana na kitendo cha Viongozi Waandamizi wa Wizara ya Afya ambao wanajua umuhimu wa kuwajibika kwa mara nyingine tena wanafanya Madaktari waendelee kutetea haki za Watanzania katika njia ngumu na kwa nia ya kufanikisha malengo haya kwa faida ya Watanzania wote.

IMETOLEWA NA OFISI YA M.A.T MAKAO MAKUU.

DR. NAMALA MKOPI
RAIS WA MAT
05/03/2012

All correspondence to: the Hon. Secretary General, MAT.

Tel. +255 22 2151835
Fax: +255 22 2153514
e-mail: info@mat-tz.org
website: www.mat-tz.org

Muhimbili University Complex,
Ruvu Block – Ground Floor,
P.O. Box 701,
Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.

Source: http://www.wavuti.com/4/post/2012/03/msimamo-wa-mat-juu-ya-utekelezaji-wa-madai-ya-madaktari.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wavuti+%28Wavuti%29&utm_content=FaceBook#ixzz1oSIDtH8h