DUH: Maradhi Ya Mwakyembe ni Ya Kawaida Kwa Tanzania

The Citizen Reporter

Dar es Salaam. The disease that deputy minister for Works Dr Harrison Mwakyembe has been battling for almost six months, is fairly widespread in Tanzania, but is only now becoming a subject of public discussion.

Medical experts say that on average, between two and five people seek treatment for scleroderma at clinics in Dar es Salaam Region at three-weekly intervals, which they suggest represents a countrywide prevalence trend .

Up to last Monday when Dr Mwakyembe disclosed that he was suffering from scleroderma ‑ a chronic condition that causes inflammation and thickening of the skin – knowledge or awareness of the disease was confined to a relatively small circle of doctors, medical students, patients and their relatives.

It has now become a subject of wider public interest in the wake of the controversy that has marked the deputy minister’s health status, triggered, primarily, by allegations that he had been poisoned by individuals that neither he nor political allies who support the theory, have named.

The controversy persists, because simultaneous to telling journalists at a briefing session in the city that doctors at Apollo Hospital in India had diagnosed ‘popular scleroderma’ as the ailment that was troubling him, he called on the government team investigating the issue to speed it up. Medical doctors who spoke to The Citizen yesterday confirmed that the disease was fairly common in the country, but noted that its effects spread slowly.

Dr Isaac Maro of the Infectious Diseases Centre in Dar es Salaam confirmed that many Tanzanian are suffering from the disease, whose causes health experts had not established.“If you open a skin clinic in this city, for example, at least three people will seek treatment for scleroderma within two to three weeks,” he said.

The disease is an autoimmune, rheumatic, and chronic affliction that affects the body by hardening connective tissues. Literally, “scleroderma” means “hard skin”.

It is classified as an autoimmune disease, which means that a person’s immune system works against itself. Its severity varies from person to person: it can be a mild annoyance or it can cause significant clinical problems.

For others, it can become life threatening. Dr Maro cited the case of a scleroderma patient he had attended over the past two years, but whose condition didn’t seem serious. Doctors say treatment of the disease takes a long time, and that, if it is not administered at early stages, the disease affects internal body organs like lungs.

Another skin consultant doctor volunteered to comment on the disease but on condition of remaining anonymous, as a safeguard against being associated with the controversial dimension to Dr Mwakyembe’s illness.

He said several people suffering from the disease attended his clinic in Dar es Salaam, adding that, it was afflicting many others all over the country, but very few of whom sought treatment, especially those living in villages. Scleroderma starts by affecting hands and face, but seldom affects hair; and sometimes penetrates internal organs at advanced stages.

Hii habari imetoka leo Jumatano kwenye gazeti la The Citizen baada ya waandishi kuwahoji madaktari mabingwa wa magonjwa ya ngozi wanaowatibu watu wenye tatizo hili - Scleroderma - hapa nchini. Jamani miye mjumbe tu, kwa kawaida mjumbe hauawi. Tunahitaji kufahamu kinachoendelea kama alivyoshauri mwenyewe Dkt. Mwakyembe na hata kuomba serikali iwe wazi.

Matinyi.