The country called Malawi: Mostly known for its poverty; Active in sex, prayers and gossip; Lazy because of their sun; Always talking and no action; Without plans for development; Impoverished for ever. MY MALAWI

INCORPORATE HERBAL MEDICINE IN HEALTH POLICY????

In the wake of the ominous HIV/Aids scourge, where Malawi ranks highly in prevalence rates, there has been a proliferation of partial remedies or immune boosters in form of herbal medicine. Presently, our markets are littered with all sorts of traditional and herbal medicines, with some being reported to be able to cure HIV/Aids. Most of these medicines (both Chinese and Malawian) are being advertised in our media proclaiming efficiency. It is no wonder that with the hopelessness that comes with the disease people flock to these “saviours”. Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence to quash or ascertain the efficacy of these medicines. We might be missing a great opportunity here in case our herbs are really making wonders and boosting the immunity and even disinfecting bodies of the virus. The herbal tradition in Malawi goes back thousands of years and maybe we can use our rich indigenous knowledge better if coupled with scientific studies.

The problem however is how we perceive herbalists today. Herbalism as practiced by a herbalist is a respectable profession and has been for many thousands of years, it laid the foundations for modern medicine, botany, pharmacy, aromatherapy and chemistry, unfortunately our fascination with technology and other reasons, it was relegated to an empirical and semi-magic art. Fortunately the surfacing of HIV/Aids and its related conditions, some of which were almost unknown not long ago have come to haunt us, more and more people have started seeking other ways of treating ailments, rediscovering complementary medicine that has created the renaissance of herbalism.

There is an increase in the use of herbal medicine globally for example, annual sales of herbal products were $1 billion in 1991, and in 1997 $3.24 billion in the USA. If a survey was done in Malawi, I am very sure we would be towing the same trend line in herbal usage growth. Unfortunately the herbal knowledge has not increased as rapid as the sales, meaning that there are a great number of people using herbs without the appropriate level of knowledge to use them, not only safely but also effectively. Most of those using herbal medicines were recommended by a friend or relative, creating an unsafe and ineffective aura for herbal remedies. Groups against herbal remedies capitalise on this in their pursuit to ban herbs or to control their sales and use. This creates an atmosphere of mistrust, and does not benefit any type of medicine.

Medical herbalism is not an alternative medicine, as it is not an alternative to psychiatry, acupuncture or dentistry etc., they complement each other. They all have strengths and weaknesses; therefore all medical modalities are complementary within the perspective of the patients needs. Herbalism’s contribution to the healing structure is, its strong foundations, straightforwardness, great depth, effectiveness and its cost. In Malawian context, the cost dimension is a major factor in the choice of medicine.

It is not therefore surprising to see other African governments fully agreeing to support the use of herbal medicine. The government of Kenya has just done so recently through its Health ministry. The utilisation of the medicine would undergo serious vetting by the equivalent of the Pharmacy, Medicines and Poisons Board before it is sold in pharmacies. Malawi can borrow a leaf from that. Instead of the laissez faire approach, there should be efforts to draft a National Policy on Traditional Medicine and Medicinal Plants that would recognize the input of herbal medicine in the country’s healthcare system. Considering that many Malawians are using traditional and herbal medicines, as they are unable to access conventional medicine, the policy would put regulation and safeguard patients from any possible risks of herbal drugs. This would reduce use of medicines that are not registered, and expose their users to the dangers of poisoning. It would also reduce the number of quacks, who are out to exploit herbal medicine users.


Malawi should just like Kenya, China, Malaysia and Thailand incorporate traditional medicines in its healthcare systems including nutrition rehabilitation cemtres. Patients visiting health facilities in future should be able to decide which kind of medicine they would use - conventional or herbal.

I think is about time to place herbal medicine in its proper place, to be used with the real expectations demonstrated by information accumulated by millennia, and now by scientific testing and assessments. The times to negate herbal effectiveness are long gone, the people have experimented with herbs and the results are there. It will be impossible to stop the progress of herbal medicine, we should be learning how to use it for what it is, not the best, pure or the only medical system, but a complementary medicine with benefits and limitations just like other medical systems. We would have done a great service to future generations by keeping alive the culture of herbal medicine.

VOTING FOR DEVELOPMENT

Seven days to go before Malawians decide on who should lead them for the next half decade. As a Malawian, my vote, my choice is already made. After listening to all the aspiring candidates, weighing in and out the policies they are advancing, taking into consideration issues of national importance and continuity, adding in the previous performances and subtracting the things that divide us, I am sure I will cast my vote to the winning candidate.

First, I should say, I have always enjoyed sympathising with the opposition for so long in my life. These are the people who usually say, point and erect the evils of those in power. It is therefore not surprising to see that usually opposition groupings tend to attract crowds of ears and people alike. I would associate any opposition grouping to a hawk eyed association that always gives us hope of the best, an alternative from the current rulers.

Ask me if I still hold the same opinion today. I will not be quick to answer that. Notable people who managed to sway me my opposition way include Loveness Gondwe, who single headedly made revelations about Kaliati recieving kick backs on Nyika Plateau's concession. Wow! I enjoyed the drama as this affected the rather eloquent Kweni both in the house and outside. This is what the opposition need to do! I marvelled at that one.

It was all over that fertilizer coupons were now turned into weapons of mass campaign. DPP guruz were all over the country distributing coupons to 'the would be voters'. If there would be food shortage, are we not furnished with a possible cause?

That is just some of the best that came out of the opposition. Now, on the other side, the opposition was busy planning impeachment, busy advancing section 65 and worked out denying us the electricity interconnection and water bills. How on earth can a reasonable grouping tire themselves on these things. First, I would be sympathetic to the rulers today if there is no drinking water, the water bill was rejected in Parliament so what do we expect. Secondly, if we are scandalised by power blackouts, is it not because the electricity bill was rejected in parliament by the opposition.

Now I would call these people devilish. Water and energy are the basic necessities of life, denying one these amenities is tantamount to selfishness. That is where I crossed the line to being sympathetic with the current rulers. May be if these bills were passed, we could have saved lives lost through cholera, through no-working life saving machines in hospitals. I could have judged these present rulers better had they been given a chance to improve the energy and water sectors but failed. Now I want to give them another chance to see if they can improve the well being of Malawians if there is no rejection of budget.

By electing the current rulers, I am assured of continuity on developments that are just being started. Nsanje Port comes big in my mind. A good and cheap transport network is a catalyst to market oriented development. So you know whom I shall vote for..........

And there are these churches that think leaders should come from their church.....preaching/campaigning for a particular opposition presidential candidate. I think this in a wrong mix. Leave politics to politicians beside Malawi is for all to cherish and enjoy. Let us not mislead the fork.

Here Comes the Elections

On 19th May 2009, we have a chance as Malawians to make history as we go to the polls. We have both Parliamentary and Presidential elections on the same day. As Malawians, we have a chance to appoint civil servant number one as well as his lieutenants to take us further into hopeful world of development.

We should all remember that the duty of breaking and/or making Malawi as a nation lies in our hands. Our voting should be full of scrutiny on visions and devoid of tribalism, regionalism and extremism.

I hope people will be guided by party manifestos, agenda and not verbal hermorhage.

Work ethics for development

Someone commented in the Nation newspaper that the Japanese contractors working on the Masauko Chipembere Highway have some unbelievable working rate, spirit and energy. They have been working tirelessly on this project, consistently, continuously and on schedule with some envious time precision. I cannot agree more with the commentator as I also looked in bemusement at how people with two hands just like us can work so adorably. These people have admirable work ethics.

Have you ever wondered why so many Malawian workers appear unwilling to work? This is evidenced by how much we crave for holidays and office absenteeism. If the rain falls too heavily or it is very cold/hot we want to stay at home. I tried to verify my suspicion by visiting doors of offices/businesses, which had clearly published operating hours of 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM. Most of the offices/businesses (almost 97%) I knocked on their doors at the dot of the said time were either not open or not ready. I also tried to go there at say five minutes to knocking off time and your guess is as good as mine, they were closed to business. We should learn to love our work and contribute to developing Malawi. It is a necessary ingredient to the development recipe.
But why do we Malawians have such poor work ethic? The answer may be difficult to find out. May be what I see as a somewhat "laissez-faire" attitude towards work is, as some expert at St Mary’s University said, "…a culmination of the impact of psychological, social, cultural, political and economic phenomena coupled with time and space.” To be frank though, there is need to study this issue as a matter of great importance in the context of national productivity with specific reference to our economic survival in this generation. To simply introduce concrete infrastructure as part of a development thrust without addressing this problem, will only accelerate the daunting prospect of an economic collapse.
Why should our engineers take long to finish their projects or the mechanic take long to fix a car’s problem or a policeman harass you instead of protecting you? While there are many factors that impinge on how Malawians work, I believe that the psychological effects of the colonial experience, is perhaps the most crucial variable in explaining our current work ethic. We always treat each with suspicion because the colonial masters instilled in us that we should not believe and respect each other’s ability rather it was the “big boss” who knew everything. Such mentality is what has breed corruption to its current levels. We should believe in ourselves and know that in our own little way we are contributing to development by working very hard. It is obvious that I cannot give an exhaustive exposition of the psychological effects of the colonial period in this article. I would simply be happy if you would appreciate the relevance and importance of this issue.
I know Malawians are not lazy because there good working ethics are reportedly good outside Malawi (South African and Zimbabwean mines are good examples). Coupled with improving our work ethics should be improved working conditions, opportunities, and wages, but most of all, a concerted effort to eradicate the negative effects of the mistrust legacy. Such as I see it, is an issue of national importance in the context of national survival. We can learn from the work ethics of the Japanese contractors on Masauko Chipembere Highway.

......to be continued.

Malawi needs development 4-LAND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Have you ever tried to enjoy a ride through Malawi on Google Earth? May be yes or No, but the fact remains that our Malawi is a very beautiful land with various natural resources. One striking thing though, pertaining to agriculture is how our farm boundaries are disorganised. You do not need to look very carefully, it is there for everybody to see. Our pieces of land or farms are irregular, undulating and in general disorganised.
On the Google Earth journey, please compare the organisation of farms in Zambia or Zimbabwe. These fields have distinct regular shapes, be it square, circular, triangular, etc. This is a common sight in many developed agricultural economies.
But why should i get concerned with the shapes of fields or farms. It should be common knowledge that irregular and undulating fields are difficult to mechanise or irrigate. If we are to develop our agriculture one or two steps ahead we should be thinking of helping the hoe that has stood the test of time. We should start pondering on how to mechanise our agriculture. Modern technologies in agriculture and mechanised farming are definately catalysts to agricultural development. We should be thinking of making agriculture an engine for exporting. This will be a dream unless we mechanise. If we are to increase our production both for food security and exporting, we need to be competitive. We cannot be as competitive as our neighbours if our fields/land remain unfriendly to mechanisation.
So what?
I think there a right department in the Ministry of Agriculture that can handle this problem. The Land Resources Conservation Department can ably handle what I would call a Land Development Programme. This programme should aim at land levelling, land demarcation/regularising boundaries, soil conservation, land drainage, and soil conditioning.
As with all land related issues, this may be painful but who said development comes easy.
The direction of our agriculture with the increase in population require continuous cropping, irrigation, and mechanisation. This necessitates land levelling and redemarcations to have regular fields. The direction of agriculture now is site specific management and information systems can be employed such as GIS/remote sensing reducing fuel, energy and production costs. This will make the Malawian farmer very competitive and able to produce more even for export.
This Land Development Programme can be well suited for many parts of the Central Region, parts of both Southern and Northern Malawi. The programme should be handled together with the Irrigation Department so that water can be supplied from Lake Malawi and be used for irrigation in these "new fields". May be a big dream like the Green Belt. Malawi would produce and produce for itself and the world and also look good on Google Earth.

Malawi need development 3-Think tanks

We can all choose to agree that despite our political and belief differences, Malawi has to prioritize development. As a country we need to forge ahead and create an environment that the next generation should be proud of. We can be famous for witchcraft, section 65, fertilizer subsidy, clinging to power, etc, but all these are short term objectives of a few misguided fellows.

It is also true that we have celebrated the Independence Day for more than 30 times and yet we depend on some handouts from the so called donors. Most of whom are our former colonial masters. I would call this cosmetic independence. We are still struggling to fund our own pockets and we claim bragging rights of independence.

On the same, we can say we have been producing the catalysts of development in the name of graduates in our University of Malawi for close to the 30years mark. However, on the ground there is nothing to show for all the years of independence and investment in education. May be it is time we evaluate ourselves as a nation.

We seem to be moving purposeless and directionless. This is evident from the way we do our national projects. After 30 years of producing engineers at Polytechnic, I expected that the cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu could by now have master plans showing where additional roads will pass, where residential houses will be located, where electricity will come from, where water will be drawn from and etc. Yes, this is possible, we have been producing all kinds of engineers; others call themselves architects, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, town planners, etc. By now, there could have been plans on the much talked shire Zambezi waterway just waiting for implementation regardless of which leader is in State House. The green revolution dreams could have come from plans of Bunda agriculturalists many years ago and just waiting for implementation. I am sure by now we could have a vibrant agriculture whose subsidies could not have been fertilizer only but also tractors, center pivots and equipment.

By now, if we had national plans, we could have potable water at every corner of Malawi, very few hospitals but well stocked with medicines (good health result into fewer diseases hence fewer hospitals required) and state of art equipment developed by Kamuzu College of Nursing and College of Medicine. With good plans all our secondary schools could have been taught by well qualified Chancellor College graduates. But alas, we threw reason and planning to the wind.

After observing this haphazard way of doing things, I may conclude that if we do not change the way we do things we are doomed to underdevelopment. We can borrow from what our friends have done to reach where they are. We need well established think tanks to draw a road map to Malawi Development. A sort of development blueprint for every leader that comes our way. A think tank in this case would be a group that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economy, science or technology issues, industrial and business policies and palns. Think tanks will offer independent actors in our democratic society assuring a pluralistic, open and accountable process of planning, policy analysis, research, decision-making and evaluation. Let the fruits of our investment in education be realised by entrusting the product of Malawian education to develop a development plan for Malawi. This group should be all inclusive representing engineers, social scientists, health experts, agriculturalists, etc, that are home grown and renowned in their fields. This way we will not have hotels being built almost on the M1 road, houses being built in rivers, forests collapsing, fish disappearing, no transportation and no energy for cooking.

We are a blessed nation and we can utilize our resources to our advancement. You talk of uranium, bauxite, Lakes, rivers and forests, we have them all. We can use them for our development agenda.