One morning, at the Repheka
Clinic of Pernier, a young man with a urinary tract infection told me that he
has taken a medication that he bought from a “marketing” seller. Those “marketing”
sellers push medications and other health products in public transportation. It’s
a great strategy to get an attentive audience. Stranded in traffic, people have
no choice but listening to charlatans.
My patient was in a
bus, on his way to a town outside of Port-au-Prince. After the first quarter of
the one-hour drive, a man in his forties stood up, introduced himself to the
passengers, and began talking about medications, which he pulled one by one as
he presented them. After a thirty-minute talk, he invited people to buy his satisfaction-guarantee
products.
