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{
    "id": 640110,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/640110/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 251,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) T.G. Ali",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 460,
        "legal_name": "Tiyah Galgalo Ali",
        "slug": "tiyah-galgalo-ali"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I do not need to repeat the fact that cancer is the leading cause of death in this country. Quite a number of people have died. The statistics show that 18,000 people die annually. Out of those, there are a number of people from rural areas whose deaths are not reported because of lack of information or monitoring tools. A number of them are in villages. Some go to dispensaries and health centers that do not have facilities to support cancer patients. A number of patients that have been referred to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) are suffering in this city due to lack of resources for upkeep, transport and treatment. A number of them are accompanied hence increasing the cost that is already high. We have Vision 2030. It is our country’s development programme which started in 2008 to 2030. It does not include cancer as one of the issues that need to be handled in this country. If we do not invest in health, we are going to suffer. We know that health is wealth and a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. We are losing a number of human resources that can contribute to the economy of this country. We have lost a number who would have helped us to invest in this country. Training cancer specialists is very critical. Having one oncologist per county is not enough. The Government needs to have refresher courses for people who are already in health centers. Quite a number of patients have been misdiagnosed and have not been given proper treatment at the early stages. That is because we do not have qualified people in the hospitals to give direction. I appreciate KNH. We have had patients from Isiolo who have been in KNH because of cancer. Kenyatta National Hospital has not been given enough resources to manage cancer patients from across the country. It is high time we increased the budget allocation to KNH because it is the only national hospital that is handling patients from across the country. As I conclude, cancer should be declared a national disaster. There is a lot of fear and panic."
}