What is the difference
between the Taliban and Boko Haram on the one hand and senior functionaries in Sierra
Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation on the other?
Well,
for one thing, the Taliban and Boko Haram have a thing against immunizing children
for diseases that maim and kill. They espouse a hopeless cause. For them, immunizing
children holds not only doctrinal risks (against religion) but is also a plot
hatched by western medicine to sterilize and infect with HIV in order to reduce
the world’s population of believers.
It is
difficult to wrap this sort of nonsense around the head, especially for
something in which the science is so clear. The record of how polio has been
virtually eliminated in the developed world is there for all to see, and it is
something that sensible people would like to replicate everywhere. And smallpox
too, that millennial scourge, has been eradicated. Before, if you had smallpox,
it either killed you dead or disfigured you for the rest of your life. Now, you
just don’t get it. The responsible virus has been wiped out. End of story. The
list of other diseases which have been controlled by vaccination is long: Diphtheria,
whooping cough, tetanus, measles, pneumonia, meningitis, yellow fever and even
TB, killers all. And every day, new triumphs are recorded... Hepatitis, cervical
cancer...
The
record is without parallel in the saving of lives and the reduction of human
suffering, but GAVI reckons that there are still 22 million children worldwide
who do not have access to such lifesaving and life-enhancing prophylaxis. GAVI
is a global
alliance
for vaccines
and immunization
that works towards reducing this access gap. It is a private-public partnership
that provides vaccines at low cost and even at no cost at all to poor
countries. They even give cash-money for infra-structure so that the
vaccination process can proceed smoothly. They have had a big presence in
Sierra Leone over the last decade and deploy their largesse through NGO’s and
the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS).
That ministry
is staffed by a large number of professionals grounded in medicine, statistics,
public health, economics, etc. You name it, they have the scientist for it. So,
you would expect that the vaccine programme will be a breeze. But hold on a
minute. Just in the last couple of days, we hear that ten senior officials in
that ministry have been suspended from duty over allegations that money for
infra-structure provided by GAVI has gone missing and that the Anti-Corruption
Commission (ACC) are determined to get to the bottom of these allegations. The charge
list includes the highest-ranking bureaucrat in the ministry, the Chief Medical
Officer, whose professional oath requires him to “First, do no harm…"
Mind you, these are just allegations and we must wait for the findings of the
ACC. But if confirmed, I ask you, “What is the difference between Sierra Leone
Ministry of Health officials and the Taleban? And Boko Haram?”
Tell Fren Tru
Tell fren true indeed!
ReplyDeleteJ.S. Demba.
While they are both imposing forces on the vunerable masses, one is somewhat legitimate...
ReplyDeleteNot sure which one you are talking about
ReplyDeleteI do not trust the integrity of the personnel that will be investigating whether or not some of the funds were misappropriated. This is because there have been many similar incidents like this and punitive actions were not taken against the officials involved. Also, there might be a cover-up by government officials in other not to expose the top officials that directed the funds to their personal bank accounts. If this allegation is accurate, it is a shame that these officials only care about enriching themselves instead of saving lives.
ReplyDeleteVery thought provoking. Reminds me of an inquiry I once made about the childrens' hospital - PCMH - not having a neo-natal unit, only to find out that the Austrian government provided the Ministry of Health with all the necessary equipment needed to setup this unit a while back. But guess what...........they are still sitting in the cases they were delivered in at the medical stores in New England, covered with years of dust.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous says that s/he does not trust the integrity of the investigators looking into the allegations. It is difficult not to share his/her pessimism. If s/he was wrong, then why is Salone in the place where it is today? All those inquiries into corrupt practices, misuse of public funds, abuse of power, extra-judicial killings and worse, of years gone by have come to naught.
ReplyDeleteBut maybe this is the one where the truth can be got at, since the alleged misdeed is so reprehensible, and, if anyone is found responsible, punished. Then perhaps we can begin to be confident that sins of omission, such as that pointed out by Gabriel, would begin to be targeted as well.
On the upside, a friend of mine emailed me this morning to say that GAVI are rolling out HPV vaccination against the human papilloma virus (the one that causes cervical cancer) in several African countries including Sierra Leone. Some good news in all this mess.