Be that as it may, this year’s flu syndrome; however, seems to have a severe toll despite the strange silence of the health care gurus. What good will it bring to languish over unedited rhetoric on HIV/AIDS when for all we know and care the capital is not clean and green.

Common cold is thriving at the expense of the health of the poor. Old codgers like me as well as feeble children may not be strong enough to put up a good fight for resistance. The garbage production too may have shown some percentage of growth over the last three consecutive years following the boringly repeated economic growth figures that do not take inflation into account. Maybe certain enterprising businessmen are already thinking to establish a plant that would transform the rubbish into a useful source of energy just in case import of fuel oil will be too expensive following the hovering threat of oil flow from Iran and the ensuing world price hike of oil.

We have now realized that the City Hall can remain vacant so long as the Powers That Be are not bestowed with powers to run it. I may even share with you my dreams to see City Hall be transferred to the new or revitalized ministry of Tourism appropriately headed by Ambassador Mohammed Dirir, a proficient communicator with whom I had an acquaintance during my active service years in my capacity as a senior advisor to the Honourable Dr. Negasso, the then minister of Information. I have a hunch that tourism in Ethiopia may soon see the light of day notwithstanding the hard task lying ahead. The metropolis needs some sweeping, I presume, lest dwellers are swept down into the draining ditches.

Two weeks have elapsed now since a friend of mine started suffering from the so-called common cold or flu and he has not yet fully recovered from the impacts of the syndrome. He has gone through all the ordeals of subjecting himself to the various traditional remedies, which are generously offered, by friends and relatives free of charge as well as pieces of medical advice and prescriptions that he got from his private doctor, at cost. All to no avail.

I asked him about the symptoms of the long lasting flu, which he found too strong to resist. His version was pathetic even if some of the local remedies he got from friendly people were amusing in some ways. It all started when he was forced to cough intermittently. He never thought it would develop into a severe flu although friends and relatives warned him to be careful in the light of the pandemic bird flu that might catch humans in due course. People seem to have no one at their disposal to trust.

He tried to fight it through building up his resisting capacity (Capacity building has become fashionable these days so it seems) by sipping hot tea with lemon juice and crushed ginger. It did not work. Friends told him to sip hot coffee with some honey and fresh butter. He obliged and found the cocktail rather sweet. Nothing could come of it. In fact he developed a soar throat and a running nose stocked with some thick stuff. His voice was choked and coarse. He could not even walk properly as he seemed to suffer from too much fatigue.

One fellow told him that a solution of local spirit, garlic and some green pepper would bring an instant remedy to his coughing ailment. Another friend, who is known for his mischievous behaviour, suggested that consuming some raw fatty meat freshly sliced from the tail of a sheep has no equals in accelerating recovery. Chronic flu is said to develop an immune system that resists the antibodies we take as for remedies and could even turn out to be fatal.

Talking about mortality from pandemic flues; I remember a long saga I heard from my high school history teacher that the famous Spanish Flu the A (H1N1) that occurred between 1918 and 1919 had claimed the lives of over 20 million people worldwide while the Asian Flu (H2N2) had killed over 70 thousand patients. We hope that such deadly flues shall never happen again, curtsey of modern medication.

Although I try to distance myself from coughing people as far as possible I may catch the virus shortly as I have been impulsively sneezing several times during the writing of this article. I have some tablets of Antigriphine and Advil in store just in case my resisting capacity needs some augmenting. By the way, why are medicines and drugs left to the mercy of the devil they call ‘inflation?’