There are many sad stories about how bad and good hospital services can be in Tanzania. Even as I type out the beginning of my finger pointing at hospital issues that are plaguing the health of 40 million Tanzanians I may I have a lot of my on short comings. I will also want to make a statement that whatever I am going to point finger on is nothing worse than compared to my on weaknesses such ... drinking, smoking, ogling, jealousy, bad mouthing aka another form of finger pointing, and whatever my personal attributes may piss off other folks.
Recently as I was enjoying the company of distinguished gentlemen in another tax and wallet trying event... a story came up. Actually it is a story that left me wondering if at all I want to continue to trust my tax monies towards such an issue such as proper and reliable health care services in Tanzania.
To my understanding over the years since the political change over from post colonialism to ujamaa to free market economy, to be exact 50 years of independence, nothing has really changed for the good.
a quick review will tell you that before 1961 health services were given for free, or rather as an exchange rate for converting into Christianity, to few selected areas. and that after 1960 before 1970 the medical provision was free again in few selected places like Dar es Salaam or any other regional town.

I remember sometimes in one particular free services health centre better known as "dispensary" syringes needles were so over used , I mean reboiled over and over again they lost their "needle point sharpness". A condition that left a rather sore butt cheek very sore after a rather forceful violation of the butt skin. I must laugh at the notion of people avoiding the "dispensary" to not get butt pricked by blunt needles rather than the discomforts of tropical diseases such as Malaria at no "cost"!

So where is my point here before I laugh myself cross with evidence of poor maintenance of health services?

I think that today even with the presence of health insurance service which makes health systems even better fucked up than before the ordinary Tanzanian will continue suffer from poor health services. The fun continues because Tanzania signed the commitment of MDGs, Millennium Development Goals, some years ago, perhaps not more than ten years.

The only evidence of such effort are expensive cars made in japan for which tax payers' monies are doled out to maintain with the following outward description.

Any car devoted to the current medical services in Tanzania costs about 40 Million TZS without taxes and customes, plus the yearly maintenance fees for the period the vehicle has to cover at least 100,000 kilometers to be declared non profit because of high maintenance costs and are subsequently sold at "pre arranged tender prices to Civil servants.

So what is the essence of all the crap I am pouring my heart out for?

Perhaps it will create a motive for the rest of us poor suckers to spend a vote to useless politicians to steer our human index development into the next Milena.