| February 26, 2008 | Tuesday | Safar 18, 1429 |
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Rationale behind drug pricing
Crime for the sake of paradise
Hoping against hope
Posters littering walls
Stung by the US
A futile war
Undue late
C’ash’ricket
Acid burn victims
Inconvenient truth
Readers are requested to restrict their comments to a maximum of 400 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for reasons of clarity and space. Letters, including those by e-mail, should carry the complete postal address of the sender. The views expressed in these columns do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.—Editor
The Pakistani establishment should be wary of the US government’s relationship with it. I call this relationship the “The tissue box relationship”. When the tissue is used up, it is just thrown away. One only has to look back at our past history to understand the tissue box relationship between the US and Pakistan governments.
During the 1950’s, up to the 1965 war, the US government supported us as it served their interest in their Cold War with the Soviet Union. After the 1965 war, the tissue was thrown away. Although the US military assistance helped us in building up our defence forces against India, I believe that in the long run it had a negative effect on the economic conditions of the country. What little there was, was diverted to maintaining a strong defence, instead of spending on education, health and welfare of the common man. Had we a more educated populace, today we would have had a smaller population, more awareness of rights and with few people living in poverty. Educated people would have meant a more productive country with a stronger economy (and resultantly a stronger military), rather than following the dictates of IFOs.
After a gap of five years, there was the famous Nixon tilt towards Pakistan during the 1971 war, when the US 6th fleet was supposedly sent to the Bay of Bengal as a sign of support to Pakistan during the war. This was mainly to return the favour to the Pakistan Government, as the Yahya government helped Nixon’s administration in making a breakthrough in the Chinese government.
The Soviet action in Afghanistan and the US reaction to it led the US government to bring out the tissue box once again. General Zia’s government willingly allowed Pakistan to be used as a conduit to supply arms to the Afghan freedom fighters as well as a place to train Afghans and volunteers from other Muslim countries. The backlash of that support resulted in Pakistan being flooded with arms and drugs, and continuance of Zia’s dictatorship because of US support to his rule. Zia’s life and US support came to an end with the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in1988-9. Because of the famous Pressler Amendment, Bush Sr stopped further military aid to Pakistan as he could not certify that Pakistan was not building the nuclear bomb. The F-16 fighter planes for which we had paid cash, were not transferred to us, as now it did not suit the US to let us have the F-16 planes. For the next 12 years, the US did not feel the need to use the Pakistani tissue.
The tissue was suddenly required when the Al Qaeda, earlier trained as freedom fighters by the CIA to fight the Soviet Army in Afghanistan, attacked the World Trade Centre and Pentagon on Sept 9, 2001. President Musharraf on a call from the US Secretary of State, and without discussing the decision with anyone, pledged Pakistan’s unconditional support to the US in its “War against terror”. In a Pakistan that was once relatively free from terrorism, is now at par with Iraq and Afghanistan. Please note that all three countries were relatively violence free before the US government intervened/interfered.
Today the Pakistani establishment has to decide whether Pakistan should continue with its tissue box relationship with the US or have a less subservient and long term relationship like Turkey and India have with the US.
SYED HUSSEIN EL-EDROOS
Rawalpindi
This is in response to Dr Irfan Zafar’s letter on Feb22 on drug prices in Dawn.
Since 2003, the World Health Organization and Health Action International (WHO/ HAI) have developed a standard methodology to measure drug prices in developing countries. The methodology which was developed by a global team of experts in medicine, pharmacy, health economics, and pharmacology is now a valid tool to evaluate drug prices (whether they are high or low) in developing countries.
The method has been tested in more than 40 countries and in Pakistan the survey was carried out by The Network for Consumer Protection (An Islamabad Advocacy Organization). The survey report on Pakistan is available on HAI’s website.
In this method, the medicine prices are measured by comparing them with an international benchmark (called International Reference Prices-IRPs).
The drug prices are compared with IRPs and an average ratio is obtained (called Median price Ratio). If this ratio is less than 1 in public sector (government hospitals, clinics etc) and less than 2 in private sector (private pharmacies, medical stores) then the prices are considered reasonable. This is considered while taking into account the production cost, profits at supply chain, mark-ups etc.
In Pakistan, reports reveal that in the public sector, prices of branded drugs (on average) are two times while in the private sector more than 3 times higher than the international reference prices. Certain individual branded drugs are even higher.
For instance, branded acyclovir (an antiviral-11 times higher), branded atenolol (for high blood pressure - 10 times higher), branded ciprofloaxicin (an antibiotic- 26 times higher), branded diclofenac (a pain killer- 15 times higher), branded fluoxetine (an antidepressant- 21 times higher) and branded rantidine (an antiulcer- 5 times higher).
So the question arises as to why the prices are again increased in a hurry when some of the drugs are already costly. This is indeed important in the country when most of the expenditures on medicines are unaffordable and not subsidized by the government.
It is time that the government formed rationale medicine pricing policies (as in other countries) to solve the issue.
However, effective reform requires political commitment and such policies can only be developed if government decisions are based on scientifically valid data and pharmacists, doctors, health economists and consumer representatives are included in the decision process.
DR ZAHEER-UD-DIN BABAR
New Zealand
The British Council and the British Alumni Association of Pakistan held a seminar on Feb 23 on “children’s right; are we doing enough?”
The keynote speaker and the 6 panelists expressed their views which were followed by a question and answer session for over one hour. Members of the audience asked many questions but most disturbing and heart rending was asked by an old Sindhi Hindu lawyer.
He said that that underage Hindu girls, as young as 12, were being kidnapped, forced to marry and convert to Islam. Parents’ attempt to file an FIR against the culprits is not registered by the police, they take no action against the criminal, the girl is never recovered, the parents suffer life-long pain, and NGOs take no action while the media ignores it. The complaint was confirmed by the fact that the news report in the following day’s newspapers on the seminar did not even mention this point.
He wanted to know why was it so? Is not kidnapping, irrespective of the faith and ethnic background of the victim, a crime under the laws of Pakistan? Are such heinous acts not un-Islamic, and immoral? Why does the state behave like a helpless bystander and why do human right organizations in Pakistan maintain a deafening silence? Do they not know what pain and humiliation it causes to the parents, particularly to the mother whose little girl is taken away forcefully and never allowed to meet her again?
I believe that we Muslim Pakistanis in general and the Human rights organizations and civil societies in particular should feel the pain through the question and do all that is required and possible to stop this crime. We cannot condone such crimes by Muslim fanatics in the name of Islam or it will rebound against us, Muslims every where and most of all against Islam which strongly and unequivocally condemns all such acts.
I hope the government will take remedial measures. The self proclaimed religious scholars who give long lectures on Islam on TV channels will condemn it and all such crimes committed in the name of Islam. Conversion by force into Islam is against Islamic teachings.
MANSOOR ALAM
Karachi
Being an overseas Pakistani, (a seafarer to be exact) I have helplessly seen the fortunes of my motherland dwindle from bad to worse over a span of 25 years.
Each new regime brought with it a glimmer of hope that perhaps now things would change for the better, only to vanish into thin air and culminate into the present day situation of rising inflation, flour shortage, power crisis, increasing lawlessness, religious intolerance, militancy, to name a few.
Now that elections are over, I once again am hopeful (though I hardly have any other alternative) that perhaps this time round, the new leaders (although the same very faces have been elected who were allegedly involved in looting, plundering and making a mess of our land of the pure) have realized their follies of the past and have decided once and for all that they would join hands and provide good governance. They would also provide relief to common people from ever rising inflation, allocate a sufficient chunk of the budget on health care and education rather than grandiose schemes, restore law and order, ensure that the military remains confined to their barracks and strengthen institutions.
I guess this almost surely is the last opportunity we have to salvage our unfortunate country and restore the pride of our nation so that we could walk with our heads held high and not treated as a laughing stock by the world or else nothing but humiliation and further disintegration would ensue.
CAPT ASIF N SIDDIQUI
Singapore
Election is over but the walls and electricity poles all over the country are still inundated with posters of politicians vying to be elected to the parliament. What an eye sore it is on scenery and sight.
The Election Commission should set up a system so that any contesting candidate when filing for their nomination papers for candidacy, should also put up a good faith security deposit.
This security deposit should be used to clean up the graffiti and the posters put up by the electioneering candidates. It would give the Election Commission the necessary revenue to take care of the problem without putting any extra burden on public revenue.
The fee should be nominal like Rs50,000 for parliamentary candidates and Rs150,000 for national assembly candidates. It would also give us some sense of responsibility.
VIC AHMED
California
HOW little President Bush cares for the will and welfare of the Pakistanis, who have disproved President Musharraf’s argument that they aren’t fit for democracy, is apparent from his refusal to discuss Mr Musharraf’s political fate and by offering no comments on reports that opposition parties have stepped up calls for his resignation ( Feb 21).
The US administration’s stance was also apparent from the previous day’s statement by a State Department spokesman that his country would continue to work with Mr Musharraf. The majority of the seats have been won by the PPPP and PML (N) and both the parties have asked the incumbent to step down. Therefore, Mr Bush’s refusal to accept this reality and to continue supporting his ally in Islamabad reveals his insincerity towards us.
It may be noted that as soon as it had become clear that the Islamists in Algeria were on the verge of coming into power after winning the elections, the ‘champions’ of democracy, America, along with the former colonial masters of Algeria, France, conspired to keep them from doing so by instigating the Algerian army to crush them. As a result, the former took to militancy as the only option left for obtaining their rightful due, which pushed the north African country into a civil war-like situation, just as the army has been pitted against the civilians over here. Tens of thousands of Muslims have been killed in Algeria in the intervening years. Following that, the US has been invading one Muslim country after another and punished Hamas for its election victory.
The other thing is, if Washington had shown wisdom rather than arrogance and imprudence in dealing with the Taliban regime while asking for Osama bin Laden to be handed over during the Clinton and first Bush presidency, the situation could have been very different. At the time when Mulla Omar had agreed to let OBL be tried in Afghanistan or a mutually acceptable Islamic country if the Americans gave him evidence of the Al Qaeda leader’s involvement, the US refused to accept either option.
In view of the foregoing, it is imperative that leaders of the newly victorious parties must keep America’s real intentions in mind and put Pakistan first, instead of yielding to the machinations of American leaders and diplomats. They must remember that if Bush had not been supporting Musharraf so strongly, the latter would not have been able to plunge the nation into one crisis after another, just to ensure his re-election, which has brought so much misery and trauma to the judges (and even their children), lawyers, journalists, civil society, political activists and the ordinary people.
We must try to have good relations with all countries, including the US, but our leaders must not let the Pakistanis down by cosying up with the US officials. The symbol of our federation, Benazir, may not have lost her life but for that.
A PAKISTANI
Karachi
THE ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan is a never-ending war as no one seems to be able to surrender. Americans have brought so much carnage that they cannot leave the battlefield until and unless there are visible signs of stability in Afghanistan again. Afghanis consist of Taliban supporters and Karzai supporters which includes the Northern Alliance. For them it has become a matter of pride whether or not to leave.
The Taliban wants to govern again and the Karzai clan wants to cling to power. Due to lack of education and some vested interests, the ever-fighting forces of Afghanistan think that the only way to capture power is by weapons. They don’t understand that there is a system of governance in the world which is widely known as democracy.
Moreover, if the situation in Pakistan is brought into focus, Afghanistan’s neighbour and USA’s main ally in the war on terror, one would get puzzled in guessing what role Pakistan plays in the war on terror. After the September attacks, the government was forced to ally with USA in order to save its skin and avoid going through thick and thin. Pakistan entered into the war field against the Taliban which they supported for two decades. As Pakistan is a Muslim country, people are against the torture meted out to Muslims. It can be easily assessed that not a single soul in Pakistan approves the war on terror. Due to this clash between the government and the people, we see people dying almost daily on the roads and northern areas, either being targeted by suicide bombers or dying due to military action.
The biggest challenge for the new government is to take Pakistan out of this state of confusion. This area should be of priority rather than getting rid of controversial amendments. The only way to do it is to make the judiciary independent because war is too serious a thing to be left on generals.
ABDUL BASIT KHAWAJA
Sharjah
fees charge
Under the newly proposed system of collecting late fees by the local branch school of a prominent private education network, each student will be forced to pay a daily charge of Rs15 in case of late payment of fees.
This is absolutely outrageous because parents of students are already burdened with undue charges the year round, not to mention the skyrocketing amount of fees charged and phenomenal increase in the fees itself by these private schools.
I request the Sindh Education Department and relevant authorities to put some check on the intolerable independence that these private schools display in increasing fees at their sweet will and forcing parents for extra money on late payments.
A CONCERNED PARENT
Karachi
The true meaning of ‘Ashes’ can now be justifiably attributed to World Cricket and not just to cricket between England and Australia.
The noble gentlemen’s game is well-roasted in cash and therefore, should be buried as a burnt-offering in the form of ashes.
The cricket we knew, played, enjoyed and honored is dead. Farewell. “C’ash’ricket” is born. Let’s see what is left of the new game.
MENIN RODRIGUES
Karachi
I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the nation to help those women who have been tortured in the worst forms one can imagine: the loss of an identity, the everlasting scarring of a life, the disfigurement of a beautiful face.
Acid burn victims are rendered helpless even by their own families. Isn’t it our responsibility to alter their tortured, scared lives and show them hope and possibility of a new advent, a new life? It most certainly is.
The number of such victims is rising with the blink of an eye, and all we do is chose to condone these incidents, hoping that some one else would do something about it. It is time that we woke up from our negligence…and put an end to this once and for all. And how exactly will we do this? By donating money and items to those organizations that help these victims, by supporting them and by making people aware of such unfortunate incidents.
SEHREEN MUMTAZ
Lahore
With reference to Beena Sarwar’s article “An ‘inconvenience’ truth”(Feb 22), I may conclude that if the people of Pakistan have voted for Mr Zardari and Mr Nawaz’s parties yet again, then who is an American journalist to object. And what does the journalist want by splashing the idea, “what democracy is it that puts the fate of the country in the hands of a Nawaz Sharif and an Asif Zardari? My Lord! How weird! Help me understand.......”
Let me make the learned journalist understand in simple words that Pakistanis have turned deaf to the distant dictator’s (America’s) definition of moderation, extremism and democracy by defeating Musharraf-backed players and have voted for the ones they believed better options left to them. And what about the Americans electing G W Bush twice? At least, Pakistanis gave their leaders a break to learn while the Americans elected the president to carry on with his ruthless policies in a consecutive manner.
One hopes that America would stop influencing the elected parties in forming alliances. And it is equally mandatory for our politicians to do what is literally best in the interest of Pakistan. Enough is enough. It is the opportunity to respect the poor people for being so consistent in trusting the tested ones once again.
WAHEED TUNIO
Larkana
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