Dr. David Bell: Magufuli kukataa lock down nchini Tanzania kuliokoa maisha ya maelfu ya watu

[Mazindu Msambule]

Hii nchi ya ajabu sana.... Umewahi fanya utafiti wewe?? Yaani unaenda hoji kuhusu Mortality rate ya ugonjwa fulani eti badala uende kwa mkemia mkuu au katibu mkuu wizara ya afya eti uhoji jirani??

Hizi ndio reasoning za CCM kabisa eti mpka shida ikupate ndio uprove..... Nenda Muhimbili omba takwimu ndio ufanye tafiti objective. Makete kuna UKIMWI zaidi ya 12% ila Pemba ni 1%.... Ssa kwa utafiti wa namna hii kuna mpemba ataamini kuna Ukimwi?

Kaka, najua wewe ni moja kati ya watu makini sana humu jukwaani; hi umechangia ukiwa na chuki na mtu. Hapa hukutumia shule/elimu yako kaka, tuweni wakweli kwa nafsi zetu.

 

[zitto junior]

Umempa zitto junior jibu lililo sahihi. Tafiti yoyote kuhusu jamii (social science research) hufanyika kwenye kaya (household). Na hata huko Muhimbili ni kuthibitisha kilichopatikana kwenye kaya, mathalani uhakika wa aina ya ugonjwa

Kwani takwimu kwamba WaTanzania elfu 50 hugundulika na saratani hiyo tafiti unaweza ipata kwenye kaya zilizopo Mtwara ilihali 60% ya cases ni kutoka kanda ya ziwa?

Huwezi uka generalise social science research kwa data za isolate cases!! Hakuna hicho kitu ni lazima uwe na uhakika case study inapofanyika basi kuna evidence kwamba eneo hilo lina ratio kubwa ya problem unayoifanyia tafiti kuliko maeneo mengine ili tafiti yako iwe generalized kwa broader population.

 

[zitto junior]

Huitaji takwimu za vifo kitaifa kujua ukweli wakati unaishi Tanzania. Anza nyumbani kwako, majirani, mtaani na ndugu zako, popote walipo nchini, kupata takwimu ya waliokufa kwa korona

Mwanzoni nilidhani ww ni intellectual kuliko wenzio but kumbe wale wale tu. Jamani narudia tena takwimu za pandemic au magonjwa ya mlipuko huwezi uliza data mtaani kwenu!! Mfano Italy Lombardy ilipigwa sana kuliko majimbo mengi say Sicily. Ssa wana sicily wakianza kuhojiana eti mbona hakuna aliyeugua? Ingemaanisha Italy hakuna wanaokufa kwa covid???

Data za masuala haya unazipata eneo husika.... Mimi nilifika Aga Khan ile March na ndio niliamini Corona ipo na iliua sana bongo. Maana nlikuta ndugu kila siku wanafuata maiti/kuina mgonjwa mahututi ikiwemo mimi pia. Ila nikikaa Manyovu huku unadhani ntajua kuna corona?

 

[relis]

Ndiyo.Shujaa wa kweli hufa ili aokoe maelfu.

Ni kama Yesu kafa kwa ajili yetu utaendelea kuishi mioyoni mwetu mzee wetu.

 

[zitto junior]

Yaani katika vitu ninavyomuona Magufuli alikuwa chaguo La Mungu kuja kuitetea Tz ni pamoja na hilo RIP JPM

Chaguo la mungu anakufa na mashine ya mzungu kwenye moyo??? Si angeitoa kama anamuamini Mungu au yeye a anamuamini kwenye Covis pekee??

Illiterates hii nchi ndio mnaturudisha nyuma sana

 

[misasa]

R.I.P rais Magufuli

 

[mwengeso]

Mwanzoni nilidhani ww ni intellectual kuliko wenzio but kumbe wale wale tu. Jamani narudia tena takwimu za pandemic au magonjwa ya mlipuko huwezi uliza data mtaani kwenu!! Mfano Italy Lombardy ilipigwa sana kuliko majimbo mengi say Sicily. Ssa wana sicily wakianza kuhojiana eti mbona hakuna aliyeugua? Ingemaanisha Italy hakuna wanaokufa kwa covid???

Data za masuala haya unazipata eneo husika.... Mimi nilifika Aga Khan ile March na ndio niliamini Corona ipo na iliua sana bongo. Maana nlikuta ndugu kila siku wanafuata maiti/kuina mgonjwa mahututi ikiwemo mimi pia. Ila nikikaa Manyovu huku unadhani ntajua kuna corona?

Naona unavimbia kutaka takwimu. Ati wadai Mimi nilifika Aga Khan ile March na ndio niliamini Corona ipo na iliua sana bongo, na ukaambiwa wamekufa kwa ugonjwa huo! Du!!!! Hao sana waliouawa na corona wamezikwa wapi na nani? India tunaoneshwa wanavyochomwa moto. Nchi za magharibi tunasikia jinsi huduma za afya zinavyozidiwa. Hali ya corona nchini tuamini hicho ulichodai? Nachelea kutumia neno VUVUZELA!

Mwananchi hutoka kila siku kwa shughuli zake za kimaisha, akikutana na watu mbalimbali. Leo unataka itangazwe idadi ya waliombukizwa na walio kufa!

zitto junior kwa kuwa mimi siyo "intellectual", kwa tathmini yako, niambie hizo takwimu za COVID-19 zitamsaidiaje huyo mwananchi, hata wewe?

Ninavyojua takwimu hutumika kufanya maamuzi sahihi (informed decision). Kwa suala la kitaifa kama hili la corona, takwimu zinatumiwa na mamlaka zenye maamuzi jinsi ya kukabiliana na hilo gonjwa na si kwa mwananchi wa kawaida. Kutokana na takwimu hizo ndio maana sasa inasisitizwa kila mwananchi kuzingatia ushauri wa kiafya kujikinga dhidi ya maambukizi au kuambukiza

 

[mwengeso]

Chaguo la mungu anakufa na mashine ya mzungu kwenye moyo??? Si angeitoa kama anamuamini Mungu au yeye a anamuamini kwenye Covis pekee??

Illiterates hii nchi ndio mnaturudisha nyuma sana

Hujui kuwa hujui

 

[zitto junior]

Ati wadai Mimi nilifika Aga Khan ile March na ndio niliamini Corona ipo na iliua sana bongo, na ukaambiwa wamekufa kwa ugonjwa huo! Du

Unajua hii ndio shida ya waTZ mie nimetoa hoja na ushahidi wangu wewe unabisha sasa unataka nikueleweshe vp? Si uende na wwe pale Aga Khan ER department ukazoe takwimu ni wagonjwa wangapi wa Covid 19 walifariki pale?? Unabisha for the sake of kubisha au una counter evidence?

zitto junior kwa kuwa mimi siyo "intellectual", kwa tathmini yako, niambie hizo takwimu za COVID-19 zitamsaidiaje huyo mwananchi, hata wewe

Takwimu ndio zinamsaidia mwanachi wa kawaida kubadili lifestyle, kuziona fursa na kujikinga zaidi. Mfano kufanya kazi kidijitali zaidi, kuepuka kuzurura bila tija yaani kuwa na proper schedule, otherwise kuna kuwepo na complacency. Mfano kwa kupitia takwimu za VVU kuna watu wanaogopa ngono zembe kuliko kitu chochote kile unadhani bila takwimu hali ingekuaje?

India tunaoneshwa wanavyochomwa moto

Kwani Kabla ya Corona hao wahindi walikua hawachomwi moto wakifariki? Nmekueleza mfano kanisani kwetu tulipoteza watu 3 directly kwa corona..... Mimi mzee na mama waliponea ICU.... Na 5 direct workmates wawili walipata Covid 19 na waliponea chupu chupu. Let alone mtaani tulimzika Beka!! Na Mama Hellen naye aliponea tundu la sindano. Sasa unataka evidence gani zaidi kwamba covid was real??

 

[zitto junior]

Hujui kuwa hujui

jibu swali kama alipambana na Pandemic ya wazungu na kupinga chanjo ya mabeberu yenye nia ovu je ni kwanini alikua anatumia mashine ya mzungu kustabilize mapigo ya moyo?? Au anamtegemea Mungu kwenye Corona tu na sio ugonjwa wa moyo

 

[Elitwege]

jibu swali kama alipambana na Pandemic ya wazungu na kupinga chanjo ya mabeberu yenye nia ovu je ni kwanini alikua anatumia mashine ya mzungu kustabilize mapigo ya moyo?? Au anamtegemea Mungu kwenye Corona tu na sio ugonjwa wa moyo

Huna akili zombie kabisa.
Hata wazungu wanatumia dhahabu na mazao mengi kutoka Afrika

 

[zitto junior]

Huna akili zombie kabisa.
Hata wazungu wanatumia dhahabu na mazao mengi kutoka Afrika

Haaahaaa poleni sana!! Kejeli nyingi kwa mzungu cku anazima mashine yake jitu linakufa. Ssa jeuri ilikua ya nini wkt maisha yake yalikua yanategemea akili ya mzungu.

Hakunaga chaguo la Mungu aliyekosa akili hivo

 

[nusuhela]

Mchambuzi kwenye gazeti hilo ambaye ni mfanyakazi aliyepita wa shirika la afya duniani (WHO) amesema kitendo cha Magufuli kukataa lock down nchini Tanzania kuliokoa maisha ya maelfu ya watu hasa akina mama, wazee na watoto.

Mchambuzi huyo amesema kwenye nchi ambazo walifungia watu ndani(lockdown) maelfu ya watu walikufa kutokana na njaa pamoja na magonjwa mengine na siyo Corona.

View attachment 1801309

======

Magufuli’s Covid response saved thousands​

Dr David Bell

He may have been ridiculed in the West for rejecting lockdowns and encouraging prayer-a-thons. But as ex-World Health Organization scientist Dr David Bell explains, Tanzania's late president John Magufuli is not seen as a pariah by many in the scientific community – he’s seen as a life-saver.

If you read the BBC website, you probably think Tanzania’s late president was either a rebel, a ‘Covid denier’ or just plain stupid.
In reality, he was none of these.

President Magufuli was actually a highly educated scientist with a PhD in chemistry, who probably saved thousands of lives by refusing to embrace lockdowns and other knee-jerk reactions foisted on the people in much of Africa and the West.

Magufuli’s decision not to lock down was consistent with the evidence-based pandemic guidelines released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019.

He rightly predicted that Covid-19 mortality in Africa would be very low compared to other major killers like malaria, tuberculous (TB) and HIV-Aids, and followed good public health principles in prioritising these higher burden diseases that particularly afflict the young, while telling Tanzanians not to panic.

He also prioritised keeping the economy growing, which is in the long term the most effective way of improving life-expectancy and health. In short, he acted as you would expect a well-trained scientist and rational public health expert to act in the Tanzanian context.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the media has demanded longer and harder lockdowns, as if they were normal – or helpful.
But they rarely point out that no pandemic plan recommended mass business closures and restrictions on religious freedom, travel, or normal societal function before 2020, because removing these is expected to cause greater harm, and impinges greatly on fundamental human rights.

We never implemented any of these measures during the SARS, MERS or swine flu outbreaks of recent years. People attended places of worship, caught packed buses and trains, the young went clubbing and danced and sang and kissed.

The same was true for Tanzanians during this pandemic too.

And rightly so.

Most Tanzanians are young and not obese, and so are at very low risk from Covid-19.

President Magufuli received a lot of bad press for telling his countrymen to go to church at the start of the pandemic to ‘pray’ Covid away.

But mass gatherings would not be expected to put the vast majority of the Tanzanian population at significant risk.
Tens of thousands of sports fans went to stadiums in Florida and Texas recently, and there was no noted uptick in cases afterwards.

Of course, protecting the vulnerable from harm is important in any epidemic, and it’s difficult to say whether the mass prayer-a-thons were a good idea from a purely transmission standpoint, as they may have increased risk to older people early on in Tanzania’s outbreak.

Building so-called ‘herd immunity’ in young people rapidly through such gatherings would however be expected to exert a protective effect, if the vulnerable are well protected until such transmission-suppressing immunity is achieved.

The policy overall was probably far better for public health than strict lockdowns, which led to the first recessions in a quarter of a century in many African countries, as well as a reduction in treatment for major killers like malaria, tuberculous (TB) and HIV-Aids.
The virus that leads to Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, is likely to become endemic, and as herd immunity is reached through natural infection or through vaccination, severe disease and death will become increasingly uncommon.

Multiple studies have shown very limited impact of stricter lockdowns on Covid-19 mortality.

Therefore, one would expect Tanzania, like Sweden, Croatia, Belarus and other ‘non-lockdown’ countries, to have similar overall Covid-19 deaths and epidemic trajectories as comparable lockdown countries in the end.

The vehement criticism of President Magufuli in the media is therefore disappointing and highly ignorant. It does appear that Western journalists find it easier to smear leaders in African countries than European leaders. Sweden's leaders, for instance, have never been labelled 'Covid deniers'.

This is not new, but perhaps shows how much hypocrisy and prejudice persist in Western society.

Tanzania appears to have done better from a health point of view than most other low-income countries through this last year. While millions of Africans have been thrown into hunger and poverty, Tanzania has seen GDP rise throughout 2020.

Falls in GDP and general impoverishment are associated with increases in all-cause mortality.

This is particularly the case in sub-Saharan Africa, where food security is often a real problem and control of endemic diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV-Aids is fragile.

It is therefore highly likely that, in maintaining a well-functioning economy, he and his government were responsible for greatly reducing mortality. UNICEF estimate almost a quarter of a million additional child deaths in South Asia in 2020 due to the responses to Covid-19 there.

It is likely that similar tolls will be seen in sub-Saharan Africa but we would expect that Tanzania will now be relatively protected from this.

Let us hope, for Tanzanians’ sake, that this continues with his successor.

Western media may have had a good laugh at President Magufuli – and Tanzanians in general – for thinking they could ‘pray’ away a virus.

But, rhetoric aside, by refusing to lockdown, and by refusing to divert health resources away from malaria and TB to test people with no symptoms for a virus with a very low fatality rate, Magufuli was following an orthodox pandemic response.

He was also orthodox in his approach to human rights. Religious freedom was considered an important human right by most Western journalists only 18 months ago, and fear should not change fundamental human rights.

Honest journalists should acknowledge the benefits of Magufuli’s approach, however much it may contradict their current preferred world view.

Ridiculing religious observances that fall outside their experience, and denigrating public health science that they clearly don’t understand, is not good journalism.

It just highlights how ignorant they are.

Sio kwamba alikataa. Wengi hamuelewi. Yule bwana alikua na roho mbaya. Alikua tayari watu waangamie kwa covid 19 ila sio kutoa hela za serikali kuwahudumia wakiwa wamejifungia ndani. Hebu jiulize, kwanini yeye alikimbia akaenda zake chato?

Bahati nzuri covid 19 haikua na madhara kwa upande wetu. Akajinyakulia point za bure kabisa [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

[Laroi Butata]

Mchambuzi kwenye gazeti hilo ambaye ni mfanyakazi aliyepita wa shirika la afya duniani (WHO) amesema kitendo cha Magufuli kukataa lock down nchini Tanzania kuliokoa maisha ya maelfu ya watu hasa akina mama, wazee na watoto.

Mchambuzi huyo amesema kwenye nchi ambazo walifungia watu ndani(lockdown) maelfu ya watu walikufa kutokana na njaa pamoja na magonjwa mengine na siyo Corona.

View attachment 1801309

======

Magufuli’s Covid response saved thousands​

Dr David Bell

He may have been ridiculed in the West for rejecting lockdowns and encouraging prayer-a-thons. But as ex-World Health Organization scientist Dr David Bell explains, Tanzania's late president John Magufuli is not seen as a pariah by many in the scientific community – he’s seen as a life-saver.

If you read the BBC website, you probably think Tanzania’s late president was either a rebel, a ‘Covid denier’ or just plain stupid.
In reality, he was none of these.

President Magufuli was actually a highly educated scientist with a PhD in chemistry, who probably saved thousands of lives by refusing to embrace lockdowns and other knee-jerk reactions foisted on the people in much of Africa and the West.

Magufuli’s decision not to lock down was consistent with the evidence-based pandemic guidelines released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019.

He rightly predicted that Covid-19 mortality in Africa would be very low compared to other major killers like malaria, tuberculous (TB) and HIV-Aids, and followed good public health principles in prioritising these higher burden diseases that particularly afflict the young, while telling Tanzanians not to panic.

He also prioritised keeping the economy growing, which is in the long term the most effective way of improving life-expectancy and health. In short, he acted as you would expect a well-trained scientist and rational public health expert to act in the Tanzanian context.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the media has demanded longer and harder lockdowns, as if they were normal – or helpful.
But they rarely point out that no pandemic plan recommended mass business closures and restrictions on religious freedom, travel, or normal societal function before 2020, because removing these is expected to cause greater harm, and impinges greatly on fundamental human rights.

We never implemented any of these measures during the SARS, MERS or swine flu outbreaks of recent years. People attended places of worship, caught packed buses and trains, the young went clubbing and danced and sang and kissed.

The same was true for Tanzanians during this pandemic too.

And rightly so.

Most Tanzanians are young and not obese, and so are at very low risk from Covid-19.

President Magufuli received a lot of bad press for telling his countrymen to go to church at the start of the pandemic to ‘pray’ Covid away.

But mass gatherings would not be expected to put the vast majority of the Tanzanian population at significant risk.
Tens of thousands of sports fans went to stadiums in Florida and Texas recently, and there was no noted uptick in cases afterwards.

Of course, protecting the vulnerable from harm is important in any epidemic, and it’s difficult to say whether the mass prayer-a-thons were a good idea from a purely transmission standpoint, as they may have increased risk to older people early on in Tanzania’s outbreak.

Building so-called ‘herd immunity’ in young people rapidly through such gatherings would however be expected to exert a protective effect, if the vulnerable are well protected until such transmission-suppressing immunity is achieved.

The policy overall was probably far better for public health than strict lockdowns, which led to the first recessions in a quarter of a century in many African countries, as well as a reduction in treatment for major killers like malaria, tuberculous (TB) and HIV-Aids.
The virus that leads to Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, is likely to become endemic, and as herd immunity is reached through natural infection or through vaccination, severe disease and death will become increasingly uncommon.

Multiple studies have shown very limited impact of stricter lockdowns on Covid-19 mortality.

Therefore, one would expect Tanzania, like Sweden, Croatia, Belarus and other ‘non-lockdown’ countries, to have similar overall Covid-19 deaths and epidemic trajectories as comparable lockdown countries in the end.

The vehement criticism of President Magufuli in the media is therefore disappointing and highly ignorant. It does appear that Western journalists find it easier to smear leaders in African countries than European leaders. Sweden's leaders, for instance, have never been labelled 'Covid deniers'.

This is not new, but perhaps shows how much hypocrisy and prejudice persist in Western society.

Tanzania appears to have done better from a health point of view than most other low-income countries through this last year. While millions of Africans have been thrown into hunger and poverty, Tanzania has seen GDP rise throughout 2020.

Falls in GDP and general impoverishment are associated with increases in all-cause mortality.

This is particularly the case in sub-Saharan Africa, where food security is often a real problem and control of endemic diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV-Aids is fragile.

It is therefore highly likely that, in maintaining a well-functioning economy, he and his government were responsible for greatly reducing mortality. UNICEF estimate almost a quarter of a million additional child deaths in South Asia in 2020 due to the responses to Covid-19 there.

It is likely that similar tolls will be seen in sub-Saharan Africa but we would expect that Tanzania will now be relatively protected from this.

Let us hope, for Tanzanians’ sake, that this continues with his successor.

Western media may have had a good laugh at President Magufuli – and Tanzanians in general – for thinking they could ‘pray’ away a virus.

But, rhetoric aside, by refusing to lockdown, and by refusing to divert health resources away from malaria and TB to test people with no symptoms for a virus with a very low fatality rate, Magufuli was following an orthodox pandemic response.

He was also orthodox in his approach to human rights. Religious freedom was considered an important human right by most Western journalists only 18 months ago, and fear should not change fundamental human rights.

Honest journalists should acknowledge the benefits of Magufuli’s approach, however much it may contradict their current preferred world view.

Ridiculing religious observances that fall outside their experience, and denigrating public health science that they clearly don’t understand, is not good journalism.

It just highlights how ignorant they are.

Kwa nini leo mnamkoga sana huyo baba wa watu (marehemu rais Magufuri) kuwa alidhalau?.

Na leo tunaanza kujiandaa na kufungiwa ndani.

 

[Pslmp]

Sio kwamba alikataa. Wengi hamuelewi. Yule bwana alikua na roho mbaya. Alikua tayari watu waangamie kwa covid 19 ila sio kutoa hela za serikali kuwahudumia wakiwa wamejifungia ndani. Hebu jiulize, kwanini yeye alikimbia akaenda zake chato?

Bahati nzuri covid 19 haikua na madhara kwa upande wetu. Akajinyakulia point za bure kabisa [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Nakuombea maisha marefu Mkuu, ili siku moja urudi hapa tena kuja kusema hicho ulichokibania moyoni mwako kwa kuamua kuwa sehemu ya kuudanganya moyo wako

 

[Kinuju]

Wanapokea kichapo kwa kulazimisha chanjo

 

[Kinuju]

Gaidi ni kiongozi asiye na maono

 

[Kinuju]

Chadema watapinga

 

[Young fadson]

Mchambuzi kwenye gazeti hilo ambaye ni mfanyakazi aliyepita wa shirika la afya duniani (WHO) amesema kitendo cha Magufuli kukataa lock down nchini Tanzania kuliokoa maisha ya maelfu ya watu hasa akina mama, wazee na watoto.

Mchambuzi huyo amesema kwenye nchi ambazo walifungia watu ndani(lockdown) maelfu ya watu walikufa kutokana na njaa pamoja na magonjwa mengine na siyo Corona.

View attachment 1801309

======

Magufuli’s Covid response saved thousands​

Dr David Bell

He may have been ridiculed in the West for rejecting lockdowns and encouraging prayer-a-thons. But as ex-World Health Organization scientist Dr David Bell explains, Tanzania's late president John Magufuli is not seen as a pariah by many in the scientific community – he’s seen as a life-saver.

If you read the BBC website, you probably think Tanzania’s late president was either a rebel, a ‘Covid denier’ or just plain stupid.
In reality, he was none of these.

President Magufuli was actually a highly educated scientist with a PhD in chemistry, who probably saved thousands of lives by refusing to embrace lockdowns and other knee-jerk reactions foisted on the people in much of Africa and the West.

Magufuli’s decision not to lock down was consistent with the evidence-based pandemic guidelines released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019.

He rightly predicted that Covid-19 mortality in Africa would be very low compared to other major killers like malaria, tuberculous (TB) and HIV-Aids, and followed good public health principles in prioritising these higher burden diseases that particularly afflict the young, while telling Tanzanians not to panic.

He also prioritised keeping the economy growing, which is in the long term the most effective way of improving life-expectancy and health. In short, he acted as you would expect a well-trained scientist and rational public health expert to act in the Tanzanian context.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the media has demanded longer and harder lockdowns, as if they were normal – or helpful.
But they rarely point out that no pandemic plan recommended mass business closures and restrictions on religious freedom, travel, or normal societal function before 2020, because removing these is expected to cause greater harm, and impinges greatly on fundamental human rights.

We never implemented any of these measures during the SARS, MERS or swine flu outbreaks of recent years. People attended places of worship, caught packed buses and trains, the young went clubbing and danced and sang and kissed.

The same was true for Tanzanians during this pandemic too.

And rightly so.

Most Tanzanians are young and not obese, and so are at very low risk from Covid-19.

President Magufuli received a lot of bad press for telling his countrymen to go to church at the start of the pandemic to ‘pray’ Covid away.

But mass gatherings would not be expected to put the vast majority of the Tanzanian population at significant risk.
Tens of thousands of sports fans went to stadiums in Florida and Texas recently, and there was no noted uptick in cases afterwards.

Of course, protecting the vulnerable from harm is important in any epidemic, and it’s difficult to say whether the mass prayer-a-thons were a good idea from a purely transmission standpoint, as they may have increased risk to older people early on in Tanzania’s outbreak.

Building so-called ‘herd immunity’ in young people rapidly through such gatherings would however be expected to exert a protective effect, if the vulnerable are well protected until such transmission-suppressing immunity is achieved.

The policy overall was probably far better for public health than strict lockdowns, which led to the first recessions in a quarter of a century in many African countries, as well as a reduction in treatment for major killers like malaria, tuberculous (TB) and HIV-Aids.
The virus that leads to Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, is likely to become endemic, and as herd immunity is reached through natural infection or through vaccination, severe disease and death will become increasingly uncommon.

Multiple studies have shown very limited impact of stricter lockdowns on Covid-19 mortality.

Therefore, one would expect Tanzania, like Sweden, Croatia, Belarus and other ‘non-lockdown’ countries, to have similar overall Covid-19 deaths and epidemic trajectories as comparable lockdown countries in the end.

The vehement criticism of President Magufuli in the media is therefore disappointing and highly ignorant. It does appear that Western journalists find it easier to smear leaders in African countries than European leaders. Sweden's leaders, for instance, have never been labelled 'Covid deniers'.

This is not new, but perhaps shows how much hypocrisy and prejudice persist in Western society.

Tanzania appears to have done better from a health point of view than most other low-income countries through this last year. While millions of Africans have been thrown into hunger and poverty, Tanzania has seen GDP rise throughout 2020.

Falls in GDP and general impoverishment are associated with increases in all-cause mortality.

This is particularly the case in sub-Saharan Africa, where food security is often a real problem and control of endemic diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV-Aids is fragile.

It is therefore highly likely that, in maintaining a well-functioning economy, he and his government were responsible for greatly reducing mortality. UNICEF estimate almost a quarter of a million additional child deaths in South Asia in 2020 due to the responses to Covid-19 there.

It is likely that similar tolls will be seen in sub-Saharan Africa but we would expect that Tanzania will now be relatively protected from this.

Let us hope, for Tanzanians’ sake, that this continues with his successor.

Western media may have had a good laugh at President Magufuli – and Tanzanians in general – for thinking they could ‘pray’ away a virus.

But, rhetoric aside, by refusing to lockdown, and by refusing to divert health resources away from malaria and TB to test people with no symptoms for a virus with a very low fatality rate, Magufuli was following an orthodox pandemic response.

He was also orthodox in his approach to human rights. Religious freedom was considered an important human right by most Western journalists only 18 months ago, and fear should not change fundamental human rights.

Honest journalists should acknowledge the benefits of Magufuli’s approach, however much it may contradict their current preferred world view.

Ridiculing religious observances that fall outside their experience, and denigrating public health science that they clearly don’t understand, is not good journalism.

It just highlights how ignorant they are.

Tukisema sisi hatueleweki had aseme mzungu, wenye akiri za namna hiyo kazi kwao

 

[Kinuju]

Tukisema sisi hatueleweki had aseme mzungu, wenye akiri za namna hiyo kazi kwao

Ngozi nyeusi ni janga