Every time I call relatives or friends in Afghanistan, they are usually in another country seeing a doctor। I felt a bit jealous at times, knowing that they all find reasons to travel even if it is just going to see a doctor and here I am stuck in the same old place. However, it did intrigue me to find out why is it always the same excuse. If they want to travel there is no need to disguise with the excuse of seeing a doctor. Travelling is not a sin or a crime. If people can afford it then why shouldn’t they travel?
As I dug deeper in to this issue I discovered the blame is placed on Afghan doctors not being good enough, allegedly their prescriptions never work even for the simplest illnesses like a cold.
To start with, I blamed the Afghan education system for not providing doctors of a high standard. In retrospect, I realised that seven years of training should be more than sufficient to provide doctors with the skills to diagnose a cold appropriately. On the other hand, many of the doctors working in Afghanistan today are not graduates of Afghan universities so it could not be entirely the fault in education system.
Indeed the lack of up to date and reliable equipment to perform complex tests is understandable. Moreover, the finger of blame could be pointed at the standard of training provided. However, are these the only factors that should be considered?
One of the other crucial problems that I become aware of lies within the medicine sold at pharmacies। At present, there is no control over medicine being dispensed in Afghanistan and if there is, it most definitely is not effective. Counterfeit medicines are sold in packaging of well-known brands.
Most of these counterfeit medicines come from or through neighbouring countries and even the ones that are not counterfeit are also lacking in quality।
I am not saying that pharmacists in Afghanistan are naïve but they are not qualified so in many cases they may not even know how much damage they are causing for earning a little extra profit.
People who make and supply these medicines make the actual money। It is one of the most profitable businesses in Afghanistan today and the one that has attracted many foreign investors. It is as if guns are not doing enough to kill Afghans that they needed a new way to kill innocent people.
With all the attention on drugs and war, this trade continues to grow undetectable।
Why do these people always see profit in destructive things? Afghanistan needs everything from toiletries to technology and has so many opportunities for business। So why do people only see the negative things for making money? A question I may never hear an answer for but one that will haunt me forever.
However, we can expect that from negative minded, selfish individuals who would do anything, even if it they have to kill for it, to make as much money as possible। However, the government should be more proactive against such issues or even the aid agencies that are claiming to be spending so much money in Afghanistan.
This vicious trade is not affecting the wealthy and middle class so much or maybe not at all. It affects those poor people who cannot afford to go abroad and get expensive medical treatments.
In times when Afghanistan needs all of it population to rebuild the war torn country, there could be nothing more damaging.
I call upon all those who can do something about this to take action now while it is still fresh or it will get uncontrollable. If the money from drugs is fuelling terrorism then surely this is too. Everyone including the public, government, aid agencies and religious leaders need to take actions to put a stop to this. It is destroying Afghanistan.
Friday 27 July 2007
Monday 23 July 2007
Shrinking world yet expanding Afghanistan
The continual advancements in technology have enabled communication and travelling straightforward and effortless. Everyday the world seems to be a smaller place.
The distance amongst Afghans, however, has increased rapidly. The communication channels for Afghans have declined to the extent that it is becoming almost impossible to convey the real problems our people are facing.
A country where the news used to spread so quickly with no technology is now facing a communication halt despite all the new developments in the communication technology sector.
We have established small groups of like-minded people who are able to communicate effectively between themselves but fail to communicate with other groups whose ideas and views differ. Each group believes they have the solution to the problem and the others are the issue. Misconceptions lead to assumptions and disable us from finding the cause to the problems we face.
It is about time that we realise that we are only part of the big puzzle, not the puzzle itself. All the parts of the puzzle need to fit together to complete it.
Working with like-minded people and avoiding those who challenge us may be the comfortable option but we will only be hindering ourselves from moving on and making any real progress.
Improving our communication with all groups can only benefit our country and people. We may not necessarily agree with everyone else but it will enable us to keep ourselves and others informed of the negative and positive developments.
We may not even like each other but this should not hold us back from being united and strong. Consider a hypothetical situation where a country in Europe is attacked. It would be considered as an attack on Europe and the whole of the European Union will respond but do all European countries like each other?
Different countries in the European Union have fought wars against each other and the sensitivity still exists. However, they know that if they do not stay united due to those internal problems, they will be vulnerable to attacks and exploitation from other countries in the world. Moreover, the economical growth and stability will also be on the fall.
We (Afghans) may have our differences but the only way to strengthen ourselves against terrorism, economic and social instability is to stay united, improve our inter group communication and try not to be too judgemental.
Co-dependence is not a threat to independence but a key to success.
Let us make our country smaller and our people closer to each other while keeping the same geography and geographical distances. If everyone else can then so can we!
The distance amongst Afghans, however, has increased rapidly. The communication channels for Afghans have declined to the extent that it is becoming almost impossible to convey the real problems our people are facing.
A country where the news used to spread so quickly with no technology is now facing a communication halt despite all the new developments in the communication technology sector.
We have established small groups of like-minded people who are able to communicate effectively between themselves but fail to communicate with other groups whose ideas and views differ. Each group believes they have the solution to the problem and the others are the issue. Misconceptions lead to assumptions and disable us from finding the cause to the problems we face.
It is about time that we realise that we are only part of the big puzzle, not the puzzle itself. All the parts of the puzzle need to fit together to complete it.
Working with like-minded people and avoiding those who challenge us may be the comfortable option but we will only be hindering ourselves from moving on and making any real progress.
Improving our communication with all groups can only benefit our country and people. We may not necessarily agree with everyone else but it will enable us to keep ourselves and others informed of the negative and positive developments.
We may not even like each other but this should not hold us back from being united and strong. Consider a hypothetical situation where a country in Europe is attacked. It would be considered as an attack on Europe and the whole of the European Union will respond but do all European countries like each other?
Different countries in the European Union have fought wars against each other and the sensitivity still exists. However, they know that if they do not stay united due to those internal problems, they will be vulnerable to attacks and exploitation from other countries in the world. Moreover, the economical growth and stability will also be on the fall.
We (Afghans) may have our differences but the only way to strengthen ourselves against terrorism, economic and social instability is to stay united, improve our inter group communication and try not to be too judgemental.
Co-dependence is not a threat to independence but a key to success.
Let us make our country smaller and our people closer to each other while keeping the same geography and geographical distances. If everyone else can then so can we!
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