AT A CROSSSROADS: Time to consider universal health coverage is now

Over the years, the human race has made great strides in scientific and technological advancement- aviation, genetics, and medicine, among others. Yet, despite all the scientific progress, there are dangers that stare at humanity, which can wipe out entire generations. One of those dangers includes disease outbreaks, especially those classified by World Health Organizations (WHO) as pandemic.
Worse still, for disease-causing (pathogenic) viruses, it’s a tall order- just think of chickenpox, HIV, ebola or Coronavirus. Talk of Hepatitis B, another viral disease which is said to be 10 times more deadlier than HIV/AIDS, and Cancer, but thankfully, there is a vaccine for it.
At the moment, the world is battling the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which is declared by WHO as pandemic (it’s spreading widely). All countries in the world, whether affected by the outbreak or not, are suffering great anxiety. In China, Denmark, Italy, we have seen shutdowns, bringing to standstill most of human activities as governments orders quarantine to stop the virus from spreading.
 This comes at the cost of huge social and economic disruptions.
We pray that COVID-19 will not affect our nation and that a solution, a cure, will be found soon to ease the dangers it poses to the human race.
All the governments across the world are creating public awareness on what to do to prevent the spread of the virus. For instance, avoiding handshakes and washing hands with soap before you touch your face helps to curb the spread of coronavirus.
For the public good, it’s important at a time like this, we should keep tab at what the ministry of health is telling us about the coronavirus. There is a lot of fake news and misinformation, but fortunately, through media especially the social media, Hon Ummy Mwalimu, Minister of Health has been very quick to update the public on what is happening. This has been great in halting the spread of uniformed public panic. The minister has been informing the public of preventive measures Tanzania has taken and the preparedness just in case there is any infection. She has shown great leadership!
 I have written in this column how keeping ourselves clean including washing our hands well can keep diseases at bay. Coronavirus preventive measures are a sordid reminder of what we should be doing daily.  
Many African countries have been victims of cholera, and we know it can’t spread where basic hygiene is highly observed. Thinking of the new outbreak, it also brought to my mind the need for African nations to have Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which is part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The day everyone will be able to get “promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services” that is when UHC will become a reality.
Tanzania is a long time member of The East, Central and Southern African Health Community (ECSA-HC).
The body held the 69th ECSA Health Ministers Conference, in which our minister of health was present. In their resolution, it was articulated that there should be prioritization of health interventions, “such as health promotion, disease prevention and keeping healthy people healthy that offered the greatest returns on investment.”
I think, the ministers were very right and this should be the way. We must do what has to be done to prevent people and communities from getting sick, whenever it’s possible. We need to embrace at individual to national level some values that will create a very healthy nation.
It’s paramount that we look at the entire health and healthcare systems so that the component of promoting health can get the attention that it deserves.
If some measures are taken, it can prevent millions of people from falling sick, with some diseases. The adage that prevention is better than cure comes hardy.