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{
    "id": 1081695,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1081695/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 186,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tongaren, FORD-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Eseli Simiyu",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 141,
        "legal_name": "David Eseli Simiyu",
        "slug": "david-eseli"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to second the Vice-Chairperson on moving this National Blood Transfusion Service Bill. What is happening in this country is very sad. We have had occasion to tour some of the blood transfusion service centres in Mombasa and Nairobi and what we found was a terrible situation in the sense that things are no longer working. The donors have pulled out. In fact, it is a shame that as a country, in something essential like blood donor services, we should rely on donors to fund it for us. It is a shame. This Bill is long overdue. If we continue the way we are going such that we cannot provide an essential service like blood transfusion, which is most of the times a life-saving emergency kind of thing, then we are exposing our citizens to real suffering in hospitals. Blood transfusion is an essential life-saving medical intervention. In fact, what blood transfusion services are undergoing in this country is what we term in medical terms as studied neglect. Studied neglect came about when some rogue people in the USA decided to infect black men with syphilis and then refused to treat them and watched the progression of the disease as they documented it so that they can know the various stages until the person eventually dies. That is studied neglect. What our blood transfusion services are going through in this country is studied neglect from the Executive and the counties. It is very sad if we continue this way. In fact, in most developed countries, blood transfusion services are stand-alone services which are well resourced so that they can accomplish their work. In countries like Israel, blood transfusion services are put together with ambulance services such that if there is a need for an ambulance, as it leaves with paramedics, there is also provision for blood transfusion just in case there is a need for it. It is so essential to the medical services that the way we have handled it is really a shame. If this stand-alone Bill is passed by this House and it becomes an Act of Parliament, it will actually bring sanity to that area. There has been talk that they want to lump blood transfusion together with another Bill that is expected in the House talking about tissue transplant. Blood transfusion should not fall among the tissue transplant issues because blood itself is not one component. Blood has got so many components. There are the red blood cells, the white blood cells, the platelets for clotting, the clotting factors and immunoglobulins in the blood. All these can be separated and given separately. So, we feel that blood transfusion should have a stand-alone Bill that governs it, so that we, as Parliament, can appropriate adequate funds to that group and improve our blood transfusion services. Hon. Speaker, if you look at the kind of infrastructure that is available for blood transfusion in this country, you will wonder how we have survived. I think we have survived by the grace of God. As the Mover said, there are about 10 vehicles that are hardly moving. When you go to their place of work, even separating the various components of blood to be given where it is relevant is becoming an issue. They cannot do that. When you look at whatever other things that are required in their work, there is nothing there. Blood transfusion is an essential part of medical services that we have to look at very keenly. You find that there are emergencies where you need certain components of the blood. If we do not have a structured way of doing this, then you might find that we will not save very many people. If we have survived this far and allowed donors to fund our blood transfusion services, we should get out of it. In fact, I wish this Bill had come before the budget. We would have tried to appropriate some money to the blood donor services because we are in a situation where slowly the country is privatising healthcare. If you go around major towns, 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."
}