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{
    "id": 1024938,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1024938/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 596,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13119,
        "legal_name": "Agnes Zani",
        "slug": "agnes-zani"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the Community Health Services Bill (Senate Bills No.5 of 2020) be now read a Second Time. I want to very quickly talk about community workers; what they do and why they are so important, especially during this time of COVID-19 pandemic. We did not know that it was going to erupt. Madam Temporary Speaker, with your indulgence, allow me to remove my mask since there is social distance so that I can speak without it and then put it back when I am done. We have a group of people called community health workers who work at the basic level in the community. They interact with the communities by moving from one household to another. They talk to members of those households and find out what kind of disease they have. They are able to sensitize them on some critical basic health information. Their work is so dire. In many communities, they are well received and recognized. During this time of COVID-19 pandemic, we saw what they did in Germany. They were doing very well because there already are structures in that country. In this country, we have a structure of community health workers that goes right up to the community level. However, this category has not really been highlighted in terms of ensuring that their work is recognized and appreciated. Many times, they are referred to as community health volunteers because they volunteer to do their work. The reason for this Bill is to upgrade them and address the issue of recognition. The definition of a worker according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is somebody who has a place within a particular society. During the public participation of this Bill, many people were clear about the role that this particular group of workers has to play and the need to entrench the legal functional mechanism for recognition. That is where the legal gap is missing. That is why this legislation has come to fore. As I speak here, there are certain counties that had gone ahead put in place their own Bills to address these community health workers. During public participation, the Council of Governors (COG), for example, were of the opinion that let them do their work within counties without a legislative framework."
}