Thoughts on drug situation
Talk is cheap, so they say. Agreed. It does not cost a dime. Anyone can yap anything any time. It is constitutional. Some say it in good faith albeit many times with inadequate information. But coming from others, ulterior motives cannot completely be ruled out.
I have no qualms with anyone blowing a whistle when something runs out of the rail. Rather, I have a whole bone to chew when one tells me I am out of order without suggesting how I should have done right. I would call it off beam.
To be or not to be, is the question. If truth be told, all and sundry knows that we are passing through a torrid zone in time, economically. It reminds me of the one Nigerian maxim that says, ‘Those who relieve themselves on the road will find flies on return’.
I wouldn’t agree more especially when some few mortals cunningly and selfishly recently had a field day on my tax and of those yonder, which we christened Cashgate.
The upshot of this evil is everywhere, unless you are the only ‘stranger in Jerusalem’. Consequently, the national coffers have turned into a thin cow. What with the aid freeze?
Under the circumstances, every penny generated has to be prudently prioritized. Among them, sectors of education, agriculture, health and all that you can mention need to suck from the now thin cow. Have you ever considered that efforts in all the other sectors have a ripple effect on health? Yes, it does!
With this line of thought, authorities have ensured that one of the priority areas be provision of essential health care that includes procurement and distribution of medicines and allied supplies. A few hitches, though, rock the mind.
Just when Central Medical Stores Trust, (CMST) declares that its stock levels are above 80 percent of commodities on its must have list, and somewhere a district is reported to be understocked because it did not place an order on time, what would you call it? Paranoia, for lack of a more diplomatic term.
And then, when stocks of medicines come to a health facility and due to abuse, in no time the facility reports a stock out but the surrounding community chooses to keep low and look the other way, or complain in silence, what would I have to call it? Paranoia. Sorry, again.
Then, when a health worker at any level has been entrusted with the responsibility to stock and dispense medicines to needy patients but wants to make a killing out of the situation, what would you say this is? Paranoia and no apology, this time.
Now, when such individuals are apprehended, more often than not you find the plaintiff losing it all in the courts. Wait a minute, do I smell conspiracy here? What kind of justice is this? Memories are still fresh of a mega heist on medicines where the prosecution lost the case on flimsy academic arguments. Paranoia: period.
One requires extensive training to stock and dispense medicines. But I know a retired police officer in Mzimba who is running a pseudo clinic in his village. It is a clinic with democratic principles at heart, he boasts. You have the freedom to choose the medicines you want and get quantities you can afford to pay for. What madness!
Look, I don’t doubt his prowess and acumen in handling cuffs and wayward citizens. But for him to ‘mutate’ into a medic? How else would you describe this? Paranoia, I agree with you!
I strongly find it a collective responsibility for each one of us to be vigilant and responsible when it comes to curbing medicines pilferage and peddling. This is a matter of life and death. Or, is it not?
Health workers must ensure that there is a robust and efficient management system at every level of the supply chain. This is not negotiable. The public must have full ownership and responsibility of all medicines that come to their health facility and make their health personnel accountable.
Justice must take its course when one is found peddling medicines from public health facilities. The media must continue its watchful eye on the touchline and report with accuracy, sobriety and fairness on any ills surrounding the supply chain of medicines and supplies. No one will come from Mars with a solution, trust me. n
