Failure in population control is a sign that health sector in the country is worse issue. And this is a problem of many developing countries. The Report, “Population and Poverty in LDCs Challenges and Opportunities for Development and Poverty Reduction” says that World’s 48 LDCs have a large and rapidly growing youth population, with some 60% under the age of 25. Do you know why? The report says 25 girls under 15 years are getting married daily. In Kenya 36 percent of 19 years old have children. According to The World Bank, the rate of population growth in Tanzania – about 3% – is one of the highest in the world. In addition, the rapid increase of population intensifies pressure on the institutions responsible for providing basic services such as sewage disposal, clean water, schools and medical care
Scarcity of physicians
Scarcity of physicians to take care of our health is another disturbing health issue in Tanzania and many developing countries all over. The abuse that most people in developing countries see dentists when it is already too late-when tooth extraction is inevitable or ignoring the culture of making checkups should not be taken into granted. Do you know why? The scarcity of specialists in most developing countries has made people to opt for miraculous cure. This year’s rush for the cupful of herbal drink offered by the Rev. Mwaisapila Ambilikile of Semunge Village in Loliondo by those expecting a miraculous cure is a good testimony of big health challenging Tanzania Do you know why? The story of woefully inadequate medical services across East Africa, where health centers are perennially understaffed, drugs are frequently out of stock, hospice care is far out of the reach of most terminally ill patients, and the poor, constrained by finances are forced when their situation has become critical. According to abstract by Ministry of Health, published in The East Africa Newspaper of April 11- 17th, 2011, the existing health felicities in mainland Tanzania require approximately 126, 000 health workers. However, only 35,202 professional health workers are currently engaged in the sector indicating a staggering deficit of 90,722 or 76 percent staff shortage. In some parts of Tanzania, this figure can shoot up to four times higher than national average-in Kigoma for example there is one medical officer per 308,000 of the population, in Mara 167, 00 and Tabora 132,000. There are only 447 specialists in Tanzania 130 a dental surgeon available which is 76 deficiencies, 90 % deficiency shortage of physiotherapists because the country holds only 18 physiotherapists.
Unplanned pregnancies
I was reading the book called WOMEN WISDOM” and found that 50 percent of babies are the result of unwanted pregnancies. Likewise the recent reports by African Population and Health Research Center shows a quarter of 40 millions pregnancies that occur in Africa are unwanted or unplanned. Do you know why? The report says many women are ending up with unwanted pregnancies because of low uptake of contraceptive in most countries. Most when got pregnancies opt for unsafe abortion.
Induced abortion is illegal in Tanzania except when performed to save the mother’s life. However, there is widespread practice of illegal induced abortion. Young girls who find themselves pregnant are expelled from school, a stark reality that is seen as instrumental to a young girl’s decision to abortion. In a study conducted in Machame, contends that there is a feeling among the residents that abortion rates are higher among secondary school students than other categories. About 3,000 of these girls in Tanzania drop from primary schools every year because they become pregnant at quite an early age.
34 percent of 300 women who were admitted to a hospital in Dar es Salaam, a study found that 34% of them had practiced illegal abortion (Justeen, Kapiga & Asten 1992). In another study again done in Dar es Salaam, about 35% of the respondents interviewed had admitted intentionally terminating their pregnancies (Mpangile, Leshabari & Kihwele 1993). The government believes that up to 30% of beds on obstetric wards are taken by women who have had unsafe abortions. Any estimate is likely to mask the true figure, as many women in rural areas never reach hospitals and post-mortems are often not carried out. Post-abortion care reduces the risk of death, but only 5% of health facilities provide such services. Marie Stopes Tanzania (MST) provides such emergency treatment for up to 3,500 women a year. Dr Leopold Tibye is a doctor in MST's clinic in Dar es Salaam and has seen the impact of illegal abortion first-hand. Many of his patients are teenagers. Most initially refuse to admit to having an abortion. All are offered advice on family planning, but such is the stigma for the unmarried with being seen in a family planning clinic that few follow up on it.
Dr Tibye has also worked in Tanzania's remote rural areas. He witnessed the desperate plight of women who had perforated their uterus with a bicycle spoke or who had severe infections after forcing cassava roots into their cervix. "Sometimes there is no transport to take them to hospital in the first place, or there are no facilities there so they are told to go to the regional hospital. But that might be 1,200km away. Some die on the way or they just go home and die there." 75, 000 die as a result of unsafe abortions.
Maternal Mortality
Globally 600,000 women die annually of pregnancy-related causes. Every day in Tanzania 24 women die for reasons related to pregnancy and delivery. Each day in Africa 700 women die of pregnancy cases. The major causes are harsh health nurses, lack of transport, unqualified health professionals, overpopulations, distance from homes to hospital etc.
Unhealthy life styles and the problem of Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer is one of the growing health problems estimated to be affecting thousands of women in the country, with 2,500 cases of the reported in hospitals in the country each year. Many people go to hospital when the disease has already reached an advanced stage. Dealing with such cases is very costly. Problem of breast and cervix cancer has increased in recent years, as one out of eight women has cancer. Cancer treatment is very expensive as proper dosage required six units of drugs each unit costing 180,000/-.
Health professionals say that change in life styles contribute to the spread of the disease in developing countries like Tanzania, whereby people consume canned food, which in most cases lack proteins.
Many women, especially those in urban areas, buy canned food, but at the end of the day they end up suffering from the disease. They are therefore likely to be affected by cancer compared to those living in rural areas, (Dr said Bokhary)
WHO report shows that 3million people are poisoned and 200,000 die yearly from pesticides and the most vulnerable are poverty stricken populations, agricultural workers and children.
Other basic services
50 years of independence Tanzanians are facing difficulties in accessing clean water, adequate shelter, and other basic services, personal security is low and violent crime increasing: police seem unable to control it. There are frequent water cut, electricity blackouts although 18% of Tanzanians are consuming the electricity, in cities there is inadequate parking space with city soldiers hunting the cars which violate unknown parking rules. They make these parking rules unknown to many so that they can get money. This is injustice.
Overflowing sewage congestion of motorcycles which do not observe traffic regulations, hospitals with long queue waiting for corrupt and unprofessional doctors who rarely go to work [KIGOMA], roads with pot holes, pick-pockets and gangs of armed robbers (Las year our second year student was killed in Dar es Salaam as he was coming from field attachment), streets without lights but with the strong smell of uncollected garbage, more beggars singing gospel to impress passersby to offer them money, disabled, street-children, hawkers, cows and goats which contribute to traffic jams, and the increase of illegal income-generating activities like prostitution, black-marketing of drugs and hawking.
Lack of squatter settlements with such necessities as sanitation facilities, low quality materials reflected in the song “Hapa Kwetu Mbagala”. In most cases poor families rent a single room and share the kitchen and sanitary facilities. More than four people live, cook, eat and sleep in one room. Pit latrines have multiple purposes as used for bathrooms as well as garbage pits and stores. Tanzania remains a society with every sort of censorship, fear, gossips and witch hunting. In Kigoma Kibondo successful businessmen are subjected to robbery and albino killings. Low life expectancy where men 54 women 56 years.
