| Let’s hope we learnt from doctors’ strike | Send to a friend |
| Saturday, 11 February 2012 12:05 |
 The truth must be told: the three-week doctors’ strike was a dark blot on Tanzania’s image. The crisis brought suffering to a multitude of patients and numerous deaths that need never have happened. There were times when this diverted the people’s anger from the government—which was under pressure to agree to the doctors’ demands—to the medics whom patients, their relatives and a few critics ended up describing as heartless. Matters came to a head on Monday when even specialist doctors laid down their tools, saying it did not make sense for them to work without the backing of interns or primary care physicians. At some point, nurses too were contemplating joining the strike. Meanwhile, the sick continued to suffer and die and it appeared there would be no end to the deadlock. It was most refreshing therefore when, come Thursday, a meeting between a government team led by Premier Mizengo Pinda and the doctors’ representatives brought the crisis to an end. The medics resumed work yesterday and it is our hope that things will fully normalise in a matter of days. But, even as we breathe sighs of relief, it would be apt for all of us to look back and ask ourselves: What were the underlying causes of the strike? Could it have been avoided? Could it have been less destructive? And, most importantly, what measures should be taken to ensure members of this most sensitive of professions are never pushed into going on strike again? There must be answers to all these and other related questions, but key among them is that all Tanzanians, be they leaders or the led, must learn to give primacy to dialogue. We need to uphold the culture of modesty, irrespective of our political or professional might. As the Kiswahili adage goes, when elephants fight it is the grass that suffers. Doctors and the government should never “fight” again for, as we have all witnessed, it is the poor mwananchi who bears the brunt of such deadly confrontations. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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