Wizara ya Afya na ARV Feki Nayo ni Siasa Chafu?

[BAK]

ATAKA IJIHOJI IJE NA MAJIBU, AELEZA ATHARI ZAKE, NAIBU WAZIRI ATAKA IPEWE MUDA ZAIDI KUCHUNGUZA TATIZO

Elias Msuya
Monday, 24 September 2012
Mwananchi

WAKATI utata ukiendelea kugubika usambazwaji wa dawa bandia za kupunguza makali ya virusi vya Ukimwi (ARV), daktari katika Kitengo cha Ukimwi, Dar es Salaam ameitaka Serikali kujichunguza yenyewe, kwa kuwa dawa hizo hazisambazwi na watu binafsi.

Daktari huyo, Charles Lyimo ambaye ni Mkuu wa Idara ya Dawa katika Kitengo cha Ukimwi Hospitali ya Amana, alisema jana kuwa hakuna sababu ya kutafuta mchawi kwenye tatizo hilo; Serikali inahusika.

“Siyo rahisi kujua kwamba hii ni dawa halisi au bandia, lakini tuna uhakika na dawa tunazotumia kwa sababu zinaagizwa na Serikali peke yake. Hakuna mtu binafsi aliyepewa tenda (zabuni) ya kuziagiza,” alisema Dk Lyimo.
Dk Lyimo alisema awali, dawa hizo zilikuwa zikiagizwa kutoka Marekani, lakini baadaye utaratibu huo ukabadilishwa na zikaanza kuagizwa kutoka India.

“…(Serikali) inapeleka oda kiwandani na ndiyo inayozigawa dawa hizo na kuzisambaza kupitia Bohari Kuu ya Dawa (MSD). Lakini pia dawa hizi zinatengenezwa Arusha kwenye kiwanda kilichopewa kibali na Serikali,” alisema Lyimo na kuongeza:

“Kama kuna dawa bandia, basi Serikali ijihoji. Kwanza mimi ninaposikia habari hizo huwa nacheka tu kwa sababu tangu sakata hili limeanza, wizara inajigongagonga tu… hawatuhusishi wala kutuuliza… na sisi tunaendelea tu kugawa dawa…”

Alipotakiwa kueleza tofauti iliyopo kati ya ARV zinazotengenezwa India na zile za Tanzania, Dk Lyimo alisema: “Ni sawa na dawa za kutuliza maumivu za Panadol na Asprin. Kuna wagonjwa wenye vidonda vya tumbo hawawezi kutumia Asprin, hawa wanatumia Panadol. Vivyo hivyo kwenye Ukimwi kuna wagonjwa ambao wanapata madhara wanapotumia dawa za India. Hawa sasa tunawapa dawa za Tanzania.”

Dk Lyimo alisema mgonjwa anabadilishiwa ARV kulingana na jinsi zinavyompenda au kumdhuru na ikifikia hapo, mgonjwa huyo anahitaji uangalizi wa karibu wa daktari.

“Kuna dawa zinazonyonya damu, nyingine zinakula nyama na nyingine zinaleta maruweruwe na njozi mbaya. Kwa hiyo tukiona athari hizo tunambadilishia mgonjwa dawa hizo,” alisema Dk Lyimo.

Akizungumzia madai hayo, Naibu Waziri wa Afya na Ustawi wa Jamii, Dk Seif Rashid alikiri kuwa ni Serikali pekee inayoagiza dawa hizo kwa ajili ya wananchi wake na akataka jamii ifahamu pia kuwa ni Serikali hiyohiyo iliyogundua tatizo hilo na kuanza kulifanyia kazi.

“Ni kweli Serikali pekee ndiyo inayoagiza dawa na Serikali hiyohiyo ndiyo iliyounda TFDA (Mamlaka ya Chakula na Dawa), ambayo kwa kazi nzuri imefanikiwa kugundua kuwapo kwa dawa bandia. Kwa hiyo tuwape muda wa uchunguzi,” alisema.

Hata hivyo, hakusema itaichukua TFDA muda gani kumaliza kazi hiyo akisema: “Hii ni kazi ya kitaalamu na inayohusisha mambo mengi. Siyo kwamba muda haujulikani, ripoti hiyo bado iko kwenye uchunguzi na uchunguzi unachukua muda mrefu… Tuwape muda wataalamu.”

Hata hivyo, mmiliki wa Kiwanda cha Tanzania Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TPIL) kinachotengeneza dawa hizo, Zarina Madabida alikaririwa na gazeti hili jana akisema kuwa ndicho kilichogundua kuwapo kwa dawa hizo na kutoa taarifa kwa TFDA kikiomba iingilie kati ili kuondoa dawa hizo bandia kwenye mzunguko.

Athari za ARV bandia
Kuhusu athari za dawa bandia, Dk Lyimo alisema mgonjwa anayezitumia hana tofauti na mtu anayekula unga ambao kimsingi hauwezi kutibu maradhi.

“Dawa bandia siyo lazima iwe na madhara kwa mgonjwa. Cha msingi hapo ni kwamba mgonjwa anayetumia ARV bandia anakuwa tu hajatumia dawa kwa muda unaotakiwa,” alisema na kuongeza:

“Mtu anaweza kutumia tu unga kutengeneza vidonge kisha akaweka nembo kwenye makopo na kuziuza kama ARV, hii ni kuwalaghai wagonjwa.”

“Mtu asipotumia dawa, kama CD4 zake zilikuwa zimeongezeka hadi kufikia 500, hushuka tena na wale wadudu hupata nguvu ya kushambulia vile virutubisho vya seli. Kwanza wadudu wale huwa wajanja zaidi na wanaweza kujibadilisha kama kinyonga. Hivyo mgonjwa hurudiwa na magonjwa nyemelezi… ni hatari mno.”

Dk Lyimo alisema kwa wastani hupokea kati ya wagonjwa 250 hadi 300 kwa siku hospitalini hapo na wote huja kuchukua dawa ili kuendelea na dozi zao. Alisema kutokana na usugu wa wadudu hao na tabia yao ya kubadilika badilika, dawa hizo ziko katika mchanganyiko wa makundi matatu yanayotosha kupambana nao.

“Kwa kawaida mwanadamu akiwa mzima ana CD4 1,500. Lakini akiathiriwa na Ukimwi zinapungua kwa sababu wale wadudu wanapoingia hushambulia virutubisho (membrane) na seli za kinga ndani ya damu.

“Hujipenyeza kwenye seli hizo na kujibadilisha na kufanana na seli hizo na huko ndiko wanakozaliana. Mtu anapotumia ARV, huvilewesha virusi na kuvifanya vishindwe kuzaliana, hivyo hula na vikishiba vinalala tu, lakini havifi,” alisema.

Alisema kutokana na gharama kubwa ya dawa hizo, wagonjwa hushauriwa kutumia ARV wakiwa na CD4 350, hata hivyo, wapo wanaoshindwa kuvumilia hasa kutokana na kuandamwa na magonjwa nyemelezi hata wanapokuwa na CD4 600.

 

[BHULULU]

Sipati picha kama ingekuwa china!

 

[BAK]

Wahusika wote wangenyongwa Mkuu...lakini kwetu DHAIFU atakenuakenua "upepo tu huu, utapita" tu huku Watanzania wanakufa kwa ufisadi wa wale waliomo wizara ya afya.

Sipati picha kama ingekuwa china!

 

[Nzowa Godat]

Chonde chonde watu ambao kwa bakhati nzuri bado hawajakanyaga miwaya mchukue tahadhari na kuepuka njia zote zinazoweza kusababisha maambukizi kwa uzembe.

 

[BAK]

[h=1]TANZANIA: Counterfeit drugs put lives at risk [/h]

The market in Dar es Salaam where numerous types of counterfeit products are sold, including drugs
​

DAR ES SALAAM, 15 January 2009 (IRIN) - The busy Kariakoo market in the Tanzanian capital is stocked with knock-off merchandise - from imported car parts to handbags – and traders from across Africa come to buy cheap imports to sell at home.

But the most dangerous counterfeits are the imitation medicines sold to unwitting consumers. In Tanzania and across the developing world, the business of fake drugs is booming. A 2006 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that in developing countries in Africa, and in parts of Asia and Latin America, up to 30 percent of medicines on the market are counterfeit.

"People are interested in getting a profit, but this is a human rights issue," said Edith Ngirwamungu, president of the Medical Association of Tanzania. "The consequences of this business are really immense. Take, for example, a person with severe malaria: if he or she cannot access the genuine drug, then it means they may die."

She said that inefficacy of counterfeit pharmaceuticals also made some Tanzanians lose confidence in crucial medicines, such as antiretrovirals for people living with HIV/AIDS.

"By having these counterfeit drugs, it makes people fearful of conventional drugs and revert back to traditional drugs," Ngirwamungu told IRIN.

Counterfeit drugs are designed to fool consumers by using misleading packaging and mimicking the shape, colour, size and imprints of genuine drugs. Fake drugs sold in Tanzania's markets include knock-offs of so-called "lifestyle" drugs, such as those for erectile dysfunction and weight loss. But there are also imitations of life-saving pharmaceuticals, including anti-malarial and anti-cancer drugs. Often, counterfeits contain just trace amounts of the purported active ingredients, and sometimes no active ingredients at all. But they are usually difficult to identify without a laboratory test.

"We've found that most pharmaceuticals don't have the content and quality of the drugs we'd expected," said Hussein Kamote, director of policy and advocacy at the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), a trade group that issued a report lambasting Tanzania's thriving counterfeit market. He said when the group recently tested a batch of anti-malaria capsules, they contained only wheat flour.

A thriving global business

Fake drugs are extremely profitable. The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest projects that fake drugs will generate US$75 billion in revenues by 2010, nearly double that of 2005. Global counterfeit syndicates use evolving consumer technologies that make it ever easier to imitate legitimate drugs.

Developing countries are particularly vulnerable, in part because regulatory officials often lack the capacity or political will to curb the distribution of fake goods. And because legitimate drugs can be expensive, poor consumers also fuel demand by knowingly or unwittingly turning to cheaper counterfeit versions.

"We are trying to tell people in Tanzania that counterfeits are dangerous products, they kill people," said John Mponela, head of the anti-counterfeits department at Tanzania's Fair Competition Commission. "They are not working for poor people, they work against poor people."

The CTI estimates between 15 and 20 percent of all merchandise circulating in the country is counterfeit, earning Tanzania a reputation as a dumping ground for imitation goods, including fake drugs. Officials say suppliers from China, India, Europe and the USA have used the country as a gateway into Africa.

"These drugs come from abroad, and those who supply them know we need these drugs," Mponela told IRIN. "When they supply them, they supply them in parallel with the genuine drugs. They get more profit – for nothing."

Crackdowns

It is difficult to punish the vendors of fake drugs in Tanzania, because fakes are so hard to identify. In Dar es Salaam, one pharmacist pointed to receipts showing where he sourced the medicines in his shop, and insisted he only purchased drugs from wholesalers that worked with the Tanzania Pharmacy Board.

"I have to trust my suppliers," he said. "We get these from the right suppliers, who have passed through the proper channels. Those are the people we deal with."

However, he admitted: "I know that 10 percent of the drugs in this place are probably fake, but I'm not about to kill 90 percent of my business because of it."

That reality is what authorities are trying to fight. In October, INTERPOL, WHO and local officials tested drugs sold in local pharmacies and markets in Tanzania. Authorities searched nearly 200 pharmacies and illegal markets, confiscated more than 100 different fake medical products, and closed down 22 businesses. The investigation was the first INTERPOL-led operation conducted in Africa under the WHO's International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT), launched in 2006.

The government is also boosting local efforts to respond to its illicit counterfeit market. It established the Fair Competition Commission (FCC) to crack down on those importing or selling counterfeit goods. A new law gives authorities more power to search private businesses and to destroy fake merchandise. It also makes it easer to slap big fines on offenders.

Humanitarian crisis risks

Despite efforts to reduce the prevalence of fake drugs in Africa, specialists warn that they continue to pose major risks for public health, especially in a humanitarian crisis.

"Counterfeit drugs on the market might amplify any humanitarian disaster," said Jonathan Lucas, regional representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Southern Africa.

Lucas said the poorest were most likely to suffer from the lack of legitimate medication in such a crisis. "It's really access to services at the end," Lucas said. "The producers are making a profit, while exploiting the limited availability of health services to the poor."

 

[Mbozib]

Kweli magamba sasa wametuchoka mpaka wanatulisha sumu.

 

[Genekai]

DHAIFU atakuwa tayari kuwawajibisha waliohusika na na kuagiza dawa bandia!? au ataendeleza UDHAIFU wake na kuendelea kukenuakenua?

Hawezi yule, kwanza yuko DODOMA anacheza ngoma za kienyeji tu. Na hata akiambiwa utasikia "ni upepo tu utapita"

 

[BAK]

...Watanzania tumekula hasara na bado ana miaka mingine mitatu ya kuwa madarakani, mpaka amalize "awamu" yake Tanzania itakuwa nyeng'enyeng'e...Masikini nchi yetu na watu wake!!!!

Hawezi yule, kwanza yuko DODOMA anacheza ngoma za kienyeji tu. Na hata akiambiwa utasikia "ni upepo tu utapita"

 

[marejesho]

DHAIFU atakuwa tayari kuwawajibisha waliohusika na na kuagiza dawa bandia!? au ataendeleza UDHAIFU wake na kuendelea kukenuakenua?

Mkuu hivi sakata la vifaa feki vya kupimia ukimwi liliishaje?kuna watu walishtakiwa?

 

[BAK]

...Mie sijasikia chochote kuhusu sakata lile Mkuu...ulikuwa ni upepo tu umeshapita....Bongo tambarare!!! Ali mradi wenyewe wanatibiwa nje ya nchi madudu mengine hayawahusu.

Mkuu hivi sakata ya vifaa feki vya kupimia ukimwi liliishaje?kuna watu walishtakiwa?

 

[marejesho]

...Mie sijasikia chochote kuhusu sakata lile Mkuu...ulikuwa ni upepo tu umeshapita....Bongo tambarare!!! Ali mradi wenyewe wanatibiwa nje ya nchi madudu mengine hayawahusu.

Kuna wakati naona shida iko kwetu wenyewe!!Wahusika wakubwa wameshajua udhaifu wetu na ndio maana wanaona ni Upepo tu!!
Haya mambo yangetokea China nadhani walioko wizara ya afya tungekuwa tumeshawapoteza!!

 

[Savannah]

“Elias Msuya WAKATI utata ukiendelea kugubika usambazwaji wa dawa bandia za kupunguza makali ya virusi vya Ukimwi (ARV), daktari katika Kitengo cha Ukimwi, Dar es Salaam ameitaka Serikali kujichunguza yenyewe, kwa kuwa dawa hizo hazisambazwi na watu binafsi. .......................... “Siyo rahisi kujua kwamba hii ni dawa halisi au bandia, lakini tuna uhakika na dawa tunazotumia kwa sababu zinaagizwa na Serikali peke yake. Hakuna mtu binafsi aliyepewa tenda (zabuni) ya kuziagiza,” alisema Dk Lyimo. Dk Lyimo alisema awali, dawa hizo zilikuwa zikiagizwa kutoka Marekani, lakini baadaye utaratibu huo ukabadilishwa na zikaanza kuagizwa kutoka India. ..................”

Wakati waziri wa sasa alipokuwa waziri msaidizi wa afya inasemekana serikali iliagiza dawa feki za kutibu TB kutoka India. Sasa baada ya kuteuliwa kwake kuwa waziri wa afya, dawa za ARV feki zimeagizwa kutoka India. Je kuna nini.

 

[dmwinuka]

Labda TFDA wenyewe wanachakachua kama sivyo kwa nini hawakuchukua hatua stahiki kabla hizi dawa feki kuingia kwenye mzunguko? Hata hivyo wanaJF wenzangu huu utendaji wa Dr. Mwinyi unatia mashaka kwani hata wizara nyingine alizotoka kulikuwa na matatizo.