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.
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