April 10, 2012
We in the United States may rail against laws and regulations that contradict our values, or protest policies or budget cuts that erode cherished programs. But consider the dilemma of researchers in Kenya who have developed information that could improve the health and wellbeing of livestock and by association, their herders and the consuming public. It involves the use of antibiotics. Ishirini na mbili? That’s Swahili for 22: Catch 22, Kenya-style.
Say hypothetically, of course that researchers documented the fact that herders of livestock in Kenya who are largely rural and dispersed far and wide in arid and semi-arid areas buy antibiotics when their animals fall sick. But they buy what seems right to them, without a veterinarian’s advice. Why not get professional advice, you would ask? Because veterinarians are scarce and one probably can’t be found for hundreds of miles in these areas. Very, very few of the veterinarians in Kenya practice in vast rural spaces. A bill that’s been pending for a few years, at least, would give trained paravets community trained animal health workers the authority to prescribe drugs, including antibiotics. This could help to rationalize antibiotic use both the choice of drug and the regimen. But right now, it’s illegal for paravets to prescribe.
Getting back to our researchers, they can deliver their findings that herders often use antibiotics incorrectly and could do much more good if they had professional advice about how to use them appropriately back to the relatively few surveyed directly for the study, but they can t extend to the broader community of herders. Because what they will recommend that herders consult paravets is illegal. And there’s no guarantee that the pending bill will come up this year, because so much legislation must be passed in Kenya to fully implement the new constitution (a good thing, in general). And of course, the Ministry of Livestock Development can’t extend the findings either because what they would recommend is illegal unless and until the legislation is passed. And it could anger the veterinarians, who, although they can’t possibly cover the marginalized territory, have historically opposed sharing their responsibilities with paravets. And that could mean the legislation will never pass.
Catch ishirini na mbili, anyone?
Image credit: Flickr: Gates Foundation
