PM’s Appeal

THE daily reports of the encounters between security forces and terrorists at different parts of the country clearly mirror the troubling times the nation is going through. Apart from being a huge security threat, the terrorist activities have also badly affected the fragile economy of the country. At a time when all out efforts should have been taking place in implementing different development works for the benefit of the people, it is ironic that the government has had to focus all its attention on security matters. However, it must be understood that it is the foremost duty of any responsible government to maintain law and order in the country and provide a sense of security to the people. The present state of emergency was also implemented after the Maoists perpetrated mindless violence in different parts of the country. The government had no alternative but to take this harsh decision, keeping in mind the security of the nation and the people. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, at an interaction programme organised by the Foundation of Parliamentary Studies the other day, quite rightly recalled that the government had done all it could to create a conducive environment to end the Maoist problem through dialogue. However, it was the Maoists, who unilaterally withdrew from the peace talks and went on a spree of terrorist activities that took a huge toll on lives and property and forced the government to implement the state of emergency. As mentioned by Prime Minister Deuba at the interaction programme attended by an impressive array of representatives from political parties, intellectuals and other members of the civic society, democracy and weapons just can’t go hand in hand. It is true, there is no cause which is good enough to call for the raising of arms, specially in a democratic society, where there are enough other options to make ones voice heard. Aptly taking up the opportunity to alert the respected representatives of the civic society present on the occasion, the Prime Minister while informing he was aware the Maoists have been knocking on the doors of intellectuals and human rights activists to lobby against the state of emergency, asked why the intellectuals were not criticizing the Maoists who were committing so many heinous crimes against their fellow countrymen. Terrorist activities definitely cannot be good for the nation or for any cause. The only way to bring prosperity for the nation is through peaceful means and the government must be given full cooperation from all sections, specially the civic society, to end the current spate of terrorist activities and bring normalcy and development back to the nation.

Anti-Health Practice

MANY Nepalese at one time or another have experienced the cavalier attitude of health practitioners towards prescribing medicines. It will not be without reason that some people suspect these practitioners of wilfully breaking Hippocratic oath and caring little about the results of their action on their patients—all for the filthy lucre. At the drop of a hat, they prescribe medicines of all kinds, more because, as is suspected, they are in cahoots with the drug stores next to their clinics, than because the medicines are indispensable for the treatment of the disease that the patient is afflicted with. Vitamins and tonics form one category of medicines that many doctors prefer to quickly suggest for rather than tell patients the virtue of imbibing such vitamins as far as they can from different food items. The habit of unnecessarily recommending vitamins, as bad as it is, pales in comparison to the haphazard prescription of antibiotics. Those more aware of such unprofessional conduct from health practitioners know that some of the latter have no qualms about prescribing antibiotics even for cases where such medicines would not be the most urgent. Latching on to the easiest and most convenient way in treating the patient, they tend to prescribe antibiotics caring two hoots about the possible consequences on the health of the patient and his general body immunity.

A seminar on "Anti-microbial Resistance Surveillance of Selected Infectious Diseases in Nepal" heard the other day that the haphazard use of antibiotics had led to situations in which treatment for tuberculosis and kala-azar required use of stronger medicine than antibiotics and had cost much more. According to one study, the cost of treatment is 100 to 200 per cent more for those who use antibiotics than for those who do not. Given the proclivity of health practitioners to prescribe antibiotics left and right without thinking of patients’ future health needs, it goes without saying that it is rare in Nepal’s health clinics for the medical practitioners to ask patients for cultural and sensitivity tests before recommending antibiotics. But health practitioners are not the only culprits in this random use of antibiotics. Patients, in order to save on doctors’ fees, also tend to buy them straight from pharmacies. Haphazard use and prescription of antibiotics must be discouraged. Awareness among the public as to the dangers of such use is important, but the supervisory role of government agencies in checking this malpractice is no less vital. It must do all it can to stop this anti-health practice.