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{
    "id": 1028968,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1028968/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 248,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kasanga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13185,
        "legal_name": "Sylvia Mueni Kasanga",
        "slug": "sylvia-mueni-kasanga"
    },
    "content": "Counties, in the month of September. During these visits, the Committee met with the respective County COVID-19 Emergency Response Committees, co-Chaired by the County Governors and County Commissioners; Members of the Health Services Committees of the respective County Assemblies; front-line healthcare workers; civil society organizations, the private sector, and other partners who have joined together with the respective county governments in responding to the pandemic. Through these engagements, the Committee was able to identify key successes that counties have recorded in responding to the pandemic, as well as challenges that have hampered the effective containment of and response to the pandemic. The Committee further observed and received firsthand accounts of the impact of the pandemic on citizens, on healthcare workers, and on county governments; and to gain insights which the Committee would not have been able to do had it not undertaken the visits. Some of the key observations the Committee made from the visits were on the need to support local innovations in the response to the pandemic; the importance of telemedicine in minimizing contact between healthcare workers and COVID-19 patients, while ensuring they are monitored and attended to; the impact of the change in Ministry of Health guidelines regarding home based care, which has greatly freed up space and facilities in hospitals; and the significant role that the private sector has played in partnering with county governments to respond to the pandemic. More significantly, the Committee noted that labour-related issues in various counties have greatly hampered the effective response to the pandemic. This has been a cross-cutting theme in all the counties that the Committee visited. The Committee heard that, in addition to the challenges of access to quality personal protective equipment (PPEs), our frontline healthcare workers have had to contend with delayed payment of salaries, in some cases spanning several months; non-remittance of statutory deductions and other financial obligations; lack of medical insurance either from NHIF or private providers, which has meant that when doctors fall ill they cannot access the same services that they are providing to others; as well as issues relating to training, deployment, and promotions. We shall forward the issues highlighted to the Committee on Labour and Social Welfare to follow up. We were not happy to learn that many county governments are not giving other incentives other than what had been sent by the National Government. Very few counties have put in place mechanisms to help the frontline workers and motivate them. A lot of support is still needed from the National Government to the county governments when it comes to qualified health care workers for ICU and other related trades that are more specified. All these things are in the report for Senators to see and a few more will come in the next report. The Committee further continued to engage with the Council of Governors, and received detailed reports from the county governments on the status of COVID-19 interventions at the county level, including reports on how funds which have been allocated at the county level or received from the national government and development partners have been utilized. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}