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{
    "id": 1021638,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1021638/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 214,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Makueni, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Daniel Maanzo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2197,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Kitonga Maanzo",
        "slug": "daniel-kitonga-maanzo"
    },
    "content": "Middlemen operating in this area have conned many Kenyans and people all over the world. We can only do well if we trust our own doctors like Dr. Pukose and Dr. Mishra, among other doctors in this House. If we do that, we will be building our own country and building confidence in our own people. Patients who travel abroad for treatment lack emotional and moral support from relatives. When you are unwell in a foreign country with one member of your family, and you are experiencing cultural shock and different climate, you will miss your family’s emotional support – which is very important for recovery. You will lack the support of your relatives through their visitations and other things. The cost of treatment is also high and the experience is intensive. That money would have been used locally. We are also shipping money away. The moment we change our money into dollars in Kenya and take it away, it also affects our economy. There is also the issue of post-treatment follow-ups and possible miscommunication. One of the countries which is very good in some aspects of medication is Mexico. You will have the challenge of communication barrier. It is very difficult to communicate through an interpreter and things like that. A lot of it is being messed up by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Therefore, we must have a law and regulations in place to control how this matter is going to be dealt with. We are making this amendment so that non-medical and non-technical staff do not take up patients and end up with mis-diagnosis and mis-management. Since you are outside your own jurisdiction, you will have no political method of addressing such matters when they arise. You cannot bring the matter to Parliament. We have seen petitions brought to the Senate and the National Assembly where people sought redress on how some given patients were treated. If you are in a foreign country, how can you do that? There are also fraudulent practices. You could find the system through which to channel a complaint is difficult. For instance, there is the police system and all that if you have been conned. There has also been misuse of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in this regard. This involves the issue of insurance and all that exchange. Finally, there is the issue of added cost of air travels, accommodation and unaccountable inflated bills, which you cannot fight in a foreign country. Kenyans who have been living in other countries have gone through tough times during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Every country gave their people priority and our people were calling saying: “We are unwell, but we cannot be treated. We have been told to stay at home until we stop breathing.” This is because the authorities in those countries decided to take care of their own people. They ignored foreigners working in their The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}