By Francis Chipalo
A few days ago I got a challenging call from one of my former employers at some newspaper publication I worked for a few years back and he was basically giving me feedback on an article I authored the previous day on Chris Tchakanga the aspiring Member of Parliament for Mufulira.
Tachanga has advised our ministry of health to act fast, saying, “the decision by the USA to leave WHO will have negative repercussions particularly on the already struggling health sector in the country considering that Zambia has projects that depend on WHO funding, including initiatives like PEPFAR”.
The aspiring parliamentarian acknowledged the US Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that has been providing significant support for HIV/AIDS treatment prevention programs in Zambia.
He described the potential disruption to ARVs, TB drugs and other essential health programs previously funded by the USA as alarming, further stating that this development is ‘wake – up ‘call for the UPND government to put key measures on how they are going to tackle this matter which as issue of life and death knowing that we many of our citizens that have been surviving through support from Americans.
We have friends, family members, relatives and colleagues that have benefited from this support through USAID and imagine how they have received this news from the USA? Your guess is as good as mine because fact of the matter is that people, especially those on ART treatment have many questions as to what will happen to them now. Are they stuck or rather are we stuck as a nation now that the USA has pulled out on us? Well, maybe we shouldn’t have been depending on them in the first place on some of these issues knowing that we have the potential and resources to survive on our own, all things in place.
Valid observations from Tachanga on the need for government to quickly act before we start losing lives unnecessarily and I agree with him.
Again I was minding my own business in the community, I sat at a bar, sipping my favorite drink when other patrons started the topic with one of them saying, “ndipo apa manje tizasila kuipa kaili ma ARVs kulibe (we will die terribly since they’ll be no ARVs)”. The debate continued on this topic.
Unknown to patrons at this bar was that the Zambian government through ministry of health permanent secretary for donor coordination, George Sinyangwe assured that, despite the suspension of foreign aid by the USA, there was no immediate risk of HIV medication shortages. At least that’s a breather in the meantime. Like the aspiring parliamenterian has suggested, we need long term solutions to this matter.
From all this talk, my former boss reminded me of the Sondashi Formula (SF 2000) inverted by Dr. Ludwig Sondashi another former employers of mine.
A few years back the SF2000 made headlines in the news both locally and in some sections of the international media.
Dr. Sondashi believes the SF 2000 cures HIV.
Whatever has happened to the formula should be an issue that our minister of health should take interest into especially now . Dr. Sondashi kept saying SF2000 just needed to be improved upon. Can government pick it up from there and engage Dr. Sondashi on the formula and maybe just maybe, our citizens depending on these drugs will be at peace and will not worry about suspension of donor funding specifically for health.
We might be worrying when we have a solution at our finger tip. Can we act now!
My opinion!
The author is a Journalist, Media Consultant and Mental Health Activist health activist
Contact; 0977203043
Email; francischipalo@rocketmmail.com
