EA film makers to form alliance to support regional integration agenda

East African film makers on Wednesday convened in Arusha in an effort to form an alliance of film festivals that will support the regional integration agenda.

 

The three-day first Preparatory Forum for Film Festivals and Film Makers was made possible by the East African Community (EAC) in collaboration with the German International Cooperation (GIZ).

 

The forum is meant to prepare ground work that will lead to the integration of all film festivals and film makers in the region into a regional body that will advocate for the film sector and also support the regional integration efforts through film in the overall context of culture and creative industries.

 

Addressing the forum, EAC head of the Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Owora Richard Othieno hailed East African Film Festival directors for coming up with such idea.

"The move is recommendable and will take the regional bloc into another stages, taking into account that the industry is very powerful, when it comes to taking message to the public," he said.

 

The official said the trading bloc's secretariat will fully support the initiative to further strengthen the already existing cooperation between the EAC, other state and non-state actors towards building a stronger East African Community through the arts and culture.

 

"Indeed this is a laudable initiative and is in line with Article 119 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, the Common Market Protocol and the Development Strategy (2010-2016), all of which provide for the fostering of public - private sector partnership towards the development of culture and creative industries in the EAC," Owora said.

 

"The Film industry is one of those culture and creative industries in the region with great potential to alleviate poverty and also to create employment for young people. The EAC is cognizant of the critical challenges facing the sectors such as the low capacity, infrastructure, financing and copyright among others. But these are not insurmountable," he said.

 

Martin Mhando, the CEO and director of Zanzibar International Film Festival, noted that culture has been used to shape and to govern identity and as festivals are perceived to be vehicles for "re-imaging" places, they also give communities a creative focus, helping to celebrate achievements, forge community identity, and of course in generating increased tourism.

 

He said the region was rich in talent but has no infrastructure to develop the talents and the formation of a festival network is a response to such a need.

 

The forum is being attended by film directors, cultural officers, and culture and creative industries stakeholders.

'Involve ICT firms in policy formulation'

The Government has been urged to involve local companies dealing with information and communication technology (ICT), in the formulation of policies in order to enable the nation to benefit more, from various inventions in the field.

 

The call was made at the weekend by Chief Executive Officer of Raha Aashiq Shariff a registered trademark of Startel Tanzania Limited that deals with provision of digital services and digital tools during the launch of an underground fiber network across the Central Business District (CBD) of Dar es Salaam, which is quickly expanding beyond the city.

 

The CEO said, together with the good job that is being done by the government through the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), still there is a lot that needs to be done for Tanzania to reap the benefit of ICT advancements.

 

“Social media, blogs, content platforms, clouds and the increasing integration and connectedness of daily processes to the internet have created a population of digital natives and nationals, who are no longer intimidated by the web, nor are they in need of being educated on how to use it,” he said.

 

Under such a situation, he said, it is of paramount importance that the policies are such that they allow brands and service providers to respect them as globally exposed, creative and tech-savvy individuals.

 

“With this comes a new way of looking at the world and engaging with its parts, so in recognition of this, we have challenged ourselves to evolve our brand, and as such we want Raha, the local company to be a mirror of Tanzania’s era of digital content and resonate on a global scale,” he said.

 

Commenting on some of the advantages of optic fiber technology they were launching, he said, the systems are less expensive in comparison with conventional technology systems like metal wires.

 

Mentioning an example, he said that kilometers of optical cable can be made cheaper than the equivalent lengths of copper wire, and that saves the provider, be it of cable television or internet and hence, it is cost effective.

 

“Another advantage is in the carrying capacity, that because optical fibers are thinner than copper wires, more fibers can be bundled into a given diameter cable, than copper wires et cetera,” he said.

 

Sharrif said, the launched service will provide unparalleled speed and reliability to all of its users, especially to consumers whose business and individual productivity relies on maximum efficiency.

 

Moreover, he invited telecommunication companies to utilise the new launched service, to improve the interconnectedness of their customers in various areas.

EAC harmonising human drugs registration to allow free flow

East African Community (EAC) member states are in the process of harmonising the registration of human drugs to allow their free movement and increase availability of safe, efficacious and good quality essential medicines in the region.

 

The move comes amid complaints by pharmaceutical importers in the country that the registration process is slow and involves several procedures compared to some neighbouring countries.

 

Speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday during the India-Tanzania Pharmaceuticals Buyer Seller meeting, Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority, (TFDA) Director of Drugs and Cosmetics, Dr Adam Fimbo said the project’s guidelines are ready and awaiting approval.

 

“The project will start with free movement of some few drugs not all kinds of drugs...we may decide to start with malaria drugs and some few other medicines,” he said.

He noted that the project will contain some rules and standards to be adhered to by member states. 

 

Pharmaceutical importers in the country applauded the project, but expressed fear that it may lead to foreign drugs flooding the pharmaceutical sector in the country.

 

“I think this is a good idea. It will enable us to do business in five countries instead of depending on one and will also speed up the registration process...but it could be a disaster as it will pave way to flooding of drugs from our neighbours,” said one of the importers, Neelay Jani during in an exclusive interview with The Guardian.

 

Jani urged local importers in the country to brace for competition with their East African counterparts. He noted that through the free movement of drugs between the states, prices are expected to be lower. 

 

According to the importers, it takes more than a year for TFDA to process the registration process while in neighbouring countries the process takes only 100 days.

However, according to Dr Fimbo, the delay is due to the fact that there are more than 1,000 registration applicants per year while each application takes at least 5 days to be processed. 

 

He said the registration process needs comprehensive scientific analysis including traveling abroad to inspect the drugs’ manufacturer industries.

 

The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Charles Pallangyo said analysis of drug supply in the country shows that 70 percent of them are imported from India.

 

“This meeting has been organised at a time when the East African Community is implementing the EAC Regional Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan of Action, 2011-2016 which guides the EAC Secretariat and EAC Partner states towards evolving an efficient and effective pharmaceutical manufacturing industry,’’ he said.

 

The Chairman for Tanzania Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (TAPI) Dr Yusuph Sinare said local pharmaceutical importers are ready to work and do business with their counterparts from India. During their visit to Tanzania, PHARMEXCIL will hold a business meeting to promote the Indian generics. 

Foundation for cancer awareness campaign

Tanzania Breast Cancer Foundation (TBCF) has said most cancer patients from rural areas go for screening when the disease is already at an advanced stage, and hence cannot be treated.

 

According to TBCF, women in rural areas are not fully aware of the disease and its early symptoms and hence end up seeking the treatment from tradition healers. 

The foundation says such women only decide to go to hospitals when the situation has worsened.

 

TBFC Director, Angela Kuzilwa, said the situation is equally bad in other urban areas, especially upcountry. She urged women who are aware of the affliction to visit district hospitals which can refer them to the Ocean Road Cancer Institute – the only such facility in the country.

 

The Director said Ocean Road Cancer Institute receives between 3,000 and 3,500 patients per year and yet only 10 percent of them get medical treatment since most of them discover the disease at a stage where it no longer responds to treatment.

 

The Director appealed to private and public institutions, including the media to promote awareness of the disease to ensure that more patients report to hospital when the disease is at its early stages, terming the diseases a national disaster.

 

“Despite coming for treatment, majority of them usually come at a very late stage. The disease can only be treated if it is discovered during early stages,” she said.

 

According to Kuzilwa, most of the victims of cancer are women. She said little knowledge about cancer and its early symptoms among this group leads to the late discovery of the disease.

 

 “Tanzanians should join hands by helping women in the fight against breast cancer. It is killing a lot of our beloved mothers who fail to read the symptoms early,” she said.

 

The Director said that sensitising and educating them could contribute immensely to saving lives.

 

She said TBCF plans to conduct massive campaigns countrywide in a move to provide education to women in rural and urban areas on early symptoms of breast cancer and its effects.

 

She said in last year’s charity walk the Foundation collected 100m/-, part of which will be used for the campaigns.

 

Kuzilwa called on men to support their wives who have been found with cancer and warned against discriminating them.

Activist, family in hiding after gun-point threat

One journalist and his family have fled their residence after armed men stormed the residence and at gun point threatened to kill him and his family should he continue with his investigative work.

 

Putting a stop to his inquiry into the illicit trade of government trophies in the country, it is reported that Christopher Kidanka, a human rights journalist and editor of the monthly magazine ‘Africa Tomorrow,’ has been forced to abandon his home along with his family to an undisclosed location in fear of his safety. 

 

Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRD) has condemned the threats levied against all human rights activists and journalists in Tanzania calling for an immediate stop and bidding responsible law and public safety authorities to take decisive action.

 

Speaking yesterday in Dar es Salaam, THRD National Coordinator, Onesmo Olengurumwa cited the case of human rights activist Christopher Kidanka who is said to have been receiving repeated threats against his life. According to Olengurumwa, Kidanka has been receiving a series of threats from unknown persons since last month. 

 

 “All this started on February 21 when a group of people invaded my house threatened me with a gun and walked away with my house keys but they did not steal anything,” recalled the journalist as per Olengurumwa narration of the ordeal.

 

“This has to a large extent affected his work including the investigative story that he had been working on,” noted the Human Rights Defenders Coalition Coordinator.

 

He said though the police are investigating the matter, the fact that his journalistic work has prompted the threats cannot be ruled out. 

 

“The matter has already been reported to the police at the University of Dar es Salaam and investigation is in progress,” he reported “but we cannot overrule or ignore the fact that the threat is a result of his work,” he added. 

 

Olengurumwa called upon all concerned authorities to do what it takes to help the innocent family resume its normal life and enable Kidanka continue with his work.

Experts: Homosexuality harmful to your health

Tanzanians should take a wise move to shun gay marriages because of its negative medical consequences on human beings. Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT) says that it is unthinkable to advocate homo sexuality citing its enormous negative health effects, especial in a country which is challenged by high maternal and infant mortalities, severe malaria, HIV, TB and now hepatitis B.

 

MAT Chairperson Doctor Primus Saidia, said in an interview in Dar es Salaam that in the light of this debate of gay marriages, it has to be made clear that homo sexuality transmits deadly diseases like hepatitis B and HIV which many poor countries cannot cope with.

 

The interview was centred on the recent bold decision of Uganda to enact a law that bans homosexuality in the country despite diplomatic tantrums from the western countries.

 

“How can we talk about such relationships and neglect their negative medical consequences in a country like Tanzania that cannot cope with preventable and treatable diseases like pneumonia?

 

He observed further that those issues should be regarded as backyard diplomacy that has no place in Tanzania and other areas of Africa.

 

He said one of the basic reasons for Africa to lag behind other continent in the world is the higher prevalence of diseases both communicable and none communicable.

 

“In fact is the biggest challenge that people in the developing world should ponder and discourage such learned cultures.”

 

Recently the national blood transfusion services director, Doctor EfespaNkya, told the public gather in Dar es Salaam in the launch of Hepatitis B vaccine that, the centre collects 170,000 litres of blood annually in which 7.0 percent is HVB contaminated.

 

“More than 12,000 bottles of one litres are discarded annually as they are contaminated with the deadly virus; it is time to intensify the fight against diseases not otherwise.” Nkya said.

 

He said as medical professionals they don’t mind about anybody’s sexual orientation , however they have to make it understood that homo sexuality have negative health impacts that poor people cannot cope with. 

 

The current media portrayal of gay and lesbian relationships is that they are as healthy, stable and loving as heterosexual marriages… or even more so.

 

 Medical associations in some big economies of the world are promoting somewhat similar messages. 

 

Sexual relationships between members of the same sex, however, expose gays, lesbians and bisexuals to extreme risks of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), physical injuries, mental disorders and even a shortened life span.

 

According to medical experts, there are five major distinctions between gay and heterosexual relationships, with specific medical consequences. 

 

Similar extremes of promiscuity have not been documented among lesbians. 

However, an Australian study found that 93 percent of lesbians reported having had sex with men, and lesbians were 4.5 times more likely than heterosexual women to have had more than 50 lifetime male sex partners.

 

Any degree of sexual promiscuity carries the risk of contracting STDs.

Common sexual practices among gay men lead to numerous sexual transmitted diseases (STDs) and physical injuries, some of which are virtually unknown in the heterosexual population. 

 

Lesbians are also at higher risk for STDs. In addition to diseases that may be transmitted during lesbian sex, a study at an Australian STD clinic found that lesbians were three to four times more likely than heterosexual women to have sex with men who were high-risk for HIV.

 

However, it is well established that there are high rates of psychiatric illnesses, including depression, drug abuse, and suicide attempts, among gays and lesbians. 

 

This is true even in the Netherlands, where gay, lesbian and bisexual (GLB) relationships are far more socially acceptable than in the U.S. Depression and drug abuse are strongly associated with risky sexual practices that lead to serious medical problems.

 

Medical researchers say, the only epidemiological study to date on the life span of gay men concluded that gay and bisexual men lose up to 20 years of life expectancy.

 

Accrding to the experts, “Monogamy” meaning long-term sexual fidelity, is rare in Gay-lesbian relationships, (GLB) particularly among gay men. 

 

One study reported that 66 percent of gay couples reported sex outside the relationship within the first year, and nearly 90 percent if the relationship lasted five years.

In Summary, It is clear that there are serious medical consequences to same-sex behavior.

 

Identification with a GLB community appears to lead to an increase in promiscuity, which in turn leads to a myriad of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and even early death. Youth should be warned of the undeniable health risks associated with a homosexual lifestyle.

Tweet winners urge SMEs focus to enhance local potentials

The February 2014 IPP tweet winners have urged the government to introduce a new policy that will give priority to local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to partake of national investment potentials.

 

Speaking during the Tweets Winners’ handover ceremony yesterday, they expressed concern over the lack of improved investment opportunities that would lift up economic strength among small and medium enterprises and widen market viability of local products.

 

Victor Byemelwa, a student at the University of Dodoma, who banked the first place win for the third time after October and November last year urged the formulation of a new policy that could create a conducive business environment for local entrepreneurs.

 

The first runner up, Glory Ndewario from Ardhi University and the second runner up, Mteule Mnyalap supported the view, saying current financial policies were friendly to big business ventures, forgetting the potentiality of small entrepreneurs for the national development wheel.

 

In awarding the Tweet Champions, the first winner pocketed Tsh 1 million, the second winner netted TSh 500,000 while the third winner banked TSh 300,000 financing.

 

Winners of February were found after giving good ideas on ‘how does the governments help young entrepreneurs to build their economic abilities,’ whereby 978 citizens’ tweets were received and three emerged winners.

 

Speaking on behalf of IPP Executive Chairman Dr. Reginald Mengi, the Independent Television (ITV) and Radio One managing director Joyce Mhaville commended the ideas of the tweet victors, saying they were potentially helpful to the country’s economy if applied.

 

 “Your ideas are positive to the government and once such policies are introduced it will help many young entrepreneurs in the country and improve the economy as well,” she stated.

 

Dr. Donath Olomi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development said that benchmarks used to arrange criteria were focusing on creativity of the idea, the possibility of its implementation in the Tanzanin environment and how clearly the idea is explained.

 

The competition was introduced in May last year by IPP Executive Chairman Dr. Mengi and until now people have been putting across various ideas for evaluation each month, all focusing on how the economy can be improved.

 

The question for this month is ‘provide an example on how you can use challenges facing others to build up the economy,’ the director noted.