| March, 24 2005 | Thursday | 13 Safar 1426 |
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Retreat again
Tuberculosis threat
There is nothing revealing or new about the factors that, according to the quarterly report of the State Bank of Pakistan, have contributed to the acceleration of the rate of inflation. That the oil marketing companies (OMCs) have been fleecing the general public as well as the government by overcharging since they were allowed to fix oil prices every fortnight is a matter well known to decision-makers. The media and informed parliamentarians have been pointing out over the last several months the cartel-like behaviour of the OMCs. Next, the fact that the easy availability of cheap white money was being massively misused by the rich to rake in quick profits by diverting of a lot of it into the stock exchange and real estate business had become in the last six months too frequent a topic of media attention for the government to miss.
The matter of sugar and wheat shortages too was not something the government did not know about for long. The problem has been lingering now for over a year. In the last five days the government has come out twice with its own explanations for the unexpected heating up of the inflation rate. The one issued before the SBP report was made public claimed that the increase in inflation was the result of higher income levels of various segments of society in the wake of strong economic growth in the last two months. And the one which came after the report was announced insists that the rate of inflation is likely to remain in the neighbourhood of seven per cent during the year. No matter what the reasons for the relatively high rate of inflation, there is no denying the fact that the salaried classes and those living just above and below the poverty line are suffering acutely as a result.
Considering the facts revealed in the SBP report, there is no way the rate will come down to seven per cent any time soon. It is likely to go up further in the remaining period of the year and upset the macroeconomic stability that the government had so painstakingly established in the last five years. There is an inherent element of distributive injustice in the domestic economic situation. The rich do not considerably eat more just because they can afford it. It is, therefore, partly a food shortage-driven inflation and the government has miserably failed to protect the poor by not importing the required quantities of food well in time. By intervening in the speculative stocks and real estate markets at the right time, it should have kept house rents (according to SBP report, one of the major factors for the higher inflation) from going through the ceiling. At the same time, it should at the earliest hand over the responsibility of fixing oil prices to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority in order to inject a measure of rationality and good sense into fuel pricing which has a serious multiplier effect on the entire price structure.
It was a sad day for ‘enlightened moderation’ on Wednesday. It came up against conservative reaction and beat a retreat. A majority of us are Muslims, and for most of us it is immaterial whether our passports or identity papers say so or not. We don’t need a stamp to establish our identity. The significance of the ministerial committee’s decision to recommend restoration of the religion column in our passports doesn’t, therefore, make much of a difference in the religious context. Nor would it matter for non-Muslims if they continue to be identified by their faith, of which undoubtedly they are as confident as we are of ours. It is the decision’s political significance that is worrisome. The ministerial committee met in the wake of the so-called ‘million march’ by the MMA in Karachi and a persistent campaign against the new passports, which do not carry the religion column. The MMA stalwarts will be perfectly justified in claiming victory, and will be emboldened to make other demands to suit their purposes. For weeks, they had concentrated only on the religion column’s restoration: forceful criticism that they were belabouring a non-issue had led them to grudgingly add inflation to their agenda. Now, the non-issue has been given respectability by the government’s own committee.
Its recommendation is subject to approval by the prime minister. It will require a very brave man to turn it down, and our prime minister has had no opportunity so far to display the courage of his personal convictions. Indeed, it will be right to suspect that the ministerial committee would not have acted as it has done without prior clearance from up above. If the idea is to remove a minor prop for agitation from the MMA’s hands, and pursue other major social reforms, then we have seen over and over again how giving way on religious issues that are raised for political mileage only strengthens retrogressive trends in society. Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto by succumbing to the PNA’s demands had not only ensured his own downfall but paved the way for Ziaul Haq to take the country into a decade of oppressive laws. Soon after Gen Pervez Musharraf had taken over, he had promised procedural amendments in the blasphemy laws, but under pressure from the religious lobby, forgot all about it. The Hudood laws similarly remain unchanged. Blaming deletion of the religion column on Mr Zafarullah Jamali, the short-lived PM, will not do. The government should be seriously concerned about how it is losing its way on it is domestic agenda.
Ranking sixth on the list of 22 TB-stricken countries, Pakistan has much to worry about on World Tuberculosis Day being observed today. The estimates are alarming: some 250,000 TB cases are registered every year, and the disease essentially strikes those in poor communities living in congested conditions, killing up to 60,000 people annually. The TB bacillus is easily transmitted: one TB sufferer can infect between 10 to 15 people in a year. Medication is expensive and not always easy to obtain. What is worse is that no new drug has been introduced in 20 years to combat the disease that has become drug-resistant in many cases as a result of misuse of traditional therapy. True, DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course) coverage has increased considerably over the years — from nine per cent of the TB population in 2000 to 62 per cent in 2003 — but there is room for greater improvement to meet the stringent goals set by the World Health Organization.
Such is the importance of DOTS that this year’s theme for World TB day focuses on the role of health-care providers, including those dispensing medication to patients under DOTS — and not all of whom have medical training. In fact, those supervising the patient’s daily medicine intake can be household members or belong to any profession, so long as they ensure that no dose is missed. This is necessary as patients often stop medication halfway through the course at the first sign of recovery, not realizing that the bacteria, although weakened, is not dead, and that drug resistant bacilli can be transmitted to others for whom the usual mix of drugs would bring no cure. A people-oriented approach must be stressed so that this knowledge is not confined to medical circles but is made available to the greatest number of people.