6,000 Tanzanians greet President Clinton
Submitted by: Dr. Yahya Ipuge
Country Director, Tanzania
The crowd began to gather here in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, at noon, hanging from overflowing buses, riding in on old bikes or just walking from surrounding villages. By the time President Clinton arrived in the late afternoon, more than 6,000 Tanzanians had gathered on the dusty soccer field and along the side of the road that ran through this small village, eager to hear from the man who had helped bring affordable HIV/AIDS treatment to their communities. Every Tanzanian who came shared two things in common: they were eager to hear President Clinton speak, and they had at some point in their lives had malaria.
Malaria to most Tanzanians is like the common cold to Americans. But unlike a cold, malaria is deadly, especially for young children. But it doesn’t have to be: all it takes is six pills, three days and fifty cents save the life of a child. Yet every day three thousand children across Africa die from the disease.
President Clinton visited a one-room private drug shop to see firsthand what tens of millions of Tanzanians experience when they visit these shops for malaria treatment. The scene is common across Africa: shelves filled with old, ineffective malaria drugs and none of the recommended effective drugs. As the shop owners explained to the President, the effective drugs, at $10 per dose, were simply too expensive for most people to afford, to they took their chances on the cheaper, inadequate alternatives.
After his tour, President Clinton told the crowd that the Clinton Foundation is working with the government of Tanzania to lower the price of the most effective malaria drugs in these shops by 95 percent so that they are affordable to even the poorest people.
As with the battle against HIV/AIDS, there is still much more to be done to drive back malaria. But as we drove back to the airport today with President Clinton, we passed a truck full of effective malaria medicines that will soon be lining the shelves of rural drug shops and saving the lives of thousands of Tanzanians.
July 28th, 2007 at 5:03 am
Thank-you Doctor for sharing this valuable story.
In my country people usually need malaria tablets only as part of their ‘kit-bag’ to have fun in a tropical, holiday location.
I hope stories like this continue to effect the ‘disengaged’ in communities all over the world, so that we can continue the Global shift of priorities and support those most in need.
Thank-you again, and I look forward to further Blogs on the site.
Regards,
Matthew Phillips.
Sydney, AUS.
July 28th, 2007 at 9:02 am
I am so happy to hear of the work the Foundation is doing in Tanzania. I spent a month in rural Tanzania this summer building a health care dispensary. Right now, the people in the village I was volunteering in have to walk 5 km to get medical treatment. Thanks to grass roots organization, by October they will have one close by which will save time, and most likely, lives. My hat’s off to the Foundation for their continual commitment to Africans.
July 28th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
President Clinton,
You are doing a wonderful job in Africa. I have a lot of respect for you and the work that you are doing. You inspire me. God Bless you and your family.
July 29th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Congrats on initiating such change!
July 31st, 2007 at 11:37 am
President bill clinton you are doing a very good job in africa
please keep up the good work
July 31st, 2007 at 1:38 pm
great work!
August 1st, 2007 at 12:16 am
Our small non-profit has been working in Tanzania for the last ten years to provide scholarships for secondary school and university students. Many of our students have malaria and it is very difficult to see them struggling so hard to obtain an education while fighting this disease. Thank you, President Clinton, for the hope your foundation is bringing to our students in Tanzania!
D. J. Westermann
American God Parent Scholarship Foundation (www.agpsf.org)
August 7th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I am a second year Social Anthropology student from the Czech Republic. This summer I have spent a month working in an orphanage in Mwanza, Tanzania. Unfortunately I shared the experience which D.J.Westermann has commented on. So many children are more than happy to learn and go to school but the ever so frequent attacks of malaria disable them to do so. Nevertheless many continue to go to school whilst fighting malaria and it’s heartbreaking to watch. I do hope that President Clinton’s new initiative will bring effective affordable treatment to Mwanza and other places all across Tanzania.
August 7th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
I lived and worked in Arusha, Tanzania for 5 years and it was sad to watch those small trucks loaded with people coming to pick up their dead loved ones. Put together, Malaria and HIV Aids are threatening to wipe away the entire African continent, and I fail to understand the world had to wait for our President Clinton to open our eyes about these modern day plagues. With so many rich countries in the world, nobody has ever cared about the millions dying every day all over the world, with numbers increasing every day. Most of those affected cannot afford such expensive drugs for treating HIV Aids and Malaria - which should really be free. I am even willing to understand that other drugs be sold at high prices, to give pharmaceutical companies their high profits, but we are dealing with two illnesses that will empty the entire African continent and other parts of the world where it has spread. May God bless President Clinton and his wife and daughter.
August 7th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
This is wonderful achievement by the Clinton Foundation.
And my heartfelt thanks to President Bill Clinton.
I sincerely hope your Foundation could do something for the HIV/AIDS people in China.
God bless.
August 7th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
While President Clinton was in Dar es Salaam I was in rural Tanzania (Kigoma), preparing to conduct an assessment through the refugee hosting communities outside Kigoma, Kasulu and Kibondo. My focus was the impact of refugee re-patiration and subsequent camp closure on the host community. While voluntary repatriation may be a hopeful durable solution for the refugee, eventual closure of the camp medical facilities means the potential end of an unintended but otherwise reliable source of healthcare delivery to locals, transferring the load back to local healthcare systems which are already overburdened, understaffed and lacking supplies.
I visited one village of approximately 17,000 where a single healthcare aide did her best to meet the comprehensive healthcare needs of the entire community. We were alarmed to learn that her dispensary was completely out of any malaria medication. Fortunately our team happened to include medical representatives from two UN agencies who promptly arranged for supplies to be sent to this local dispensary.
For whatever reason the supply chain had broken down with precious time lost when a mother came forward with a malaria stricken child. Traveling by foot nearly 15 kilometers to the nearest supply just isn’t good enough, not to mention she wouldn’t likely be able to afford treatment anyway. We must do more and I believe what your foundation is doing in Tanzania is a clear step in the right direction.
I applaud your commitment to provide less expensive meds for Malaria and HIV/AIDS. Like Dr. Ipuge I look forward to seeing a truckload of affordable and effective medications moving to rural drug shops for timely distribution.
August 8th, 2007 at 12:37 am
What a nice man. I’m from Tanzania, and when you see people like President Clinton, you can not quit admire them. I saw the pictures of President Clinton and my fellow Tanzanians, and i realize how Bill brought back the hope to my brother and sisters in Tanzania.
I hope together we will fight and destroy Malaria, i lost a lot of friends and family members along the way. In God we trust that one day we will eliminate this disease that kills a lot of children in Africa.
Bill you give us hope, and in the name of God we thanks you and the whole team that make this happened.
Asante
August 8th, 2007 at 4:56 am
Dear Mr.President Clinton:
I salute you
You are outstading for the work you are doing with the people of Tanzania. While I understand how important it is to combat this disease around the world, I am moved that you would go across the world to be with people who are so different from you.
I also hope that your efforts in Tanzania will be duplicated every wwhere in the Africa to fight the 400,000 plus people who will contract HIV this year. Much work needs to be done as well.
Thanks again for your good contributions!!
Piemu Esquire,Dar E Salaam TANZANIA
August 8th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Mr. Bill Clinton (former President of United States of America), I am a student at Missouri State University in USA pursuing my Masters degree and a Tanzanian citizen. Indeed, I have been very much impressed by the efforts your foundation is putting towards making the world a place of good living. Your focus on HIV/AIDS and deadly killer disease malaria facing African countries is quite a welcome.
It is appealing to learn that your foundation is set to work hand in hand with the government of Tanzania to lower the price of the most effective malaria drugs. At the end of the day if price is considerably lowered, many Tanzanian lives will be saved and the number of three thousand children that die across Africa will tremendously drop down.
Dear President Clinton, my aim to responding to the 6,000 Tanzanians greet President Clinton is to recognize and appreciate your personal attributes and the foundation at large for what you are doing towards the well being of African countries and the whole world.
God bless you!
August 9th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Thank you SOO much for using your energy, expertize and funds to help the people of Africa fight death threatening diseaes of Malaria and HIV/AIDS. Having been to western Tanzania four times, I have personally seen the hope such efforts bring to a devasted people. The people of the Bunda area are truly prayering that your efforts wil reach them also in the very near future.
May you be blessed as you are blessing others.
August 9th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
There are no words that can express my gratitude as a Tanzanian citizen.
Thank you Clinton.
August 9th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Thank you so much President Bill Clinton for your efforts to bring hope to the Tanzanians especially those affected by HIV/AIDS. I, personally, have lost two brothers, one sister in law, one niece, one nephew and one sister due to this deadly disease. All these relatives have left 12 orphans behind who needs our help so they can go to school and become self reliant in the future.
I appreciate what you and your foundation are doing to fight HIV/AIDS and malaria in Tanzania and other African countries. I ask all people of good heart like yours to join your efforts and save not only the Tanzanians but also the whole African continent and the world at large.
Long live President Bill Clinton! You are our hero! May God bless you always.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:32 am
Dear Psresident Clinton,
Congratulations for your effort engaging in the war against stigmatization of African continent. I pray for our Mighting God to give you a good health and long life in order to eanable you to continue with war against Malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Keep it Up President Bill Clinton.
August 17th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Hi Mr President!
I admire what you are doing,God bless you.
If only one-third of world presidents could have such kind of your HEART and THOUGHT,Africa couldn’t be as it is!
Best wishes.
SINGO
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:11 pm
It is wonderful to have people realize this is a world-wide effort, but as
Merle and Willie have preached, time and again, we need your help here
now in the United States for the down-trodden and beat up, depressed,
and homeless. Thank you for your life and time. May God bless your
every step and your family.
Lorraine Joiner
August 24th, 2007 at 1:58 am
Time has come to reach the unreached and to serve, make them aware, to provide the necessary drug/food, build their capacity to help themselves. A felt need for health is essential.
Thank you Klinton Sir for the great job.
Pradeep
August 24th, 2007 at 8:49 am
Dear Bill clinton
I feel I am close to a God fearing man.Someone who realises that Africa has undergone untold human sufferring unparralleled in the history of mankind.The fact that we see this suffering today is a terrible shame to us all since mankind has the resources to wipe this and yet so many influential and rich people are not doing enough for Africa and Africa also is not doing enough for itself.
Thank you Bill for standing out to be counted.