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{
    "id": 1074201,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1074201/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 162,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherargei",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you very much. I want to support the Statement by Sen. Cheruiyot on the issue of export of samples. It is very sad that in this era, we have to take some samples to abroad for further analysis. I had a friend who had meningitis in Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and his samples had to be taken to South Africa for medical analysis. In the process of getting analysis from as far as South Africa, or any other country where further medial analysis is being done, it is heart wrenching for the families. They are told medication cannot start because they are waiting for sample results. Mr. Speaker, Sir, those are the reforms that we would like to see in the Ministry of Health. With the advent of technology and use of laboratories, some people might become mischievous and use some of the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) samples in an unfortunate way. Secondly, we have hospitals in this country that have been accused before of harvesting body organs to sale them in other countries. Some of these body organs are used for fetish reasons or any other ungodly ways. In the process taking these samples abroad, they might steal some of the body organs. There was a story that was being run by the media sometimes back where some hospitals in this country, especially private facilities, disguised themselves that they were taking those samples for further medical analysis, but they dealing with human trafficking or selling some body organs. Going into the future, I hope the Standing Committee on Health will take this issue seriously because we allocate a lot of money to the Ministry of Health and counties. Why can they not procure machines where blood samples or any other form of sample can be taken, be analysed within the sub-county, county hospital or national hospital and be able to get results as soon as possible? In my opinion, the Managed Equipment Services (MES) where there was purchase of equipment and machines to the county hospitals and referral hospitals, we should have gotten more advanced machines that can do some of these samples analysis within Kenya so that Kenyans do not suffer waiting for results for one month or three weeks. In cases of meningitis, we should not be taking our samples to South Africa. Mr. Speaker, Sir, going into the future, it is not safe for us and for the country because we do not know what other scientists or other hospitals outside this Republic are using. We expend a lot of money, especially people going to India and other countries to seek further medication. That is why when you get most cancer patients needing body transplants; be it kidney or any other transplant, they normally go to India. You saw when there was the explosion of the Indian COVID-19 variant in India, many Kenyans suffered because those transplants could not have been done in Kenya. One of the reasons they prefer going abroad is that there have been cases of misdiagnosis and professional negligence in this country. We hope there will be proper machines so that we do not need to fly all the way to India or any other country for our samples to be taken so that we receive medication from there. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we hope the Standing Committee on Health will not only look unto the reasons why or why the Ministry of Health allows those samples to be taken away, but they should ask the Ministry of Health the measures and strategies they have"
}