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{
    "id": 1109279,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1109279/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 242,
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    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "I am being reminded of your other title which I did not know that is being added as a feather to your cap. Martin Luther King Jnr. said that if a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should do so as Michelangelo painted as Beethoven composed music or as Shakespeare composed poetry. Let them sweep until the angels in Heaven pause and say that indeed there lived a street sweeper in that part of the world. In this current Senate, if there is a colleague who has distinguished themselves in terms of sticking to a particular topic and doing whatever possible to pursue the cause, that award goes to our colleague, Sen. Kasanga, especially so with regard to this very important issue of mental health. Many of us continue to treat this matter casually, but when it strikes home; when you have a relative or friend who becomes mentally ill, you begin to appreciate the challenge we continue to face as a country. I do not know how many of our colleagues have had the chance to visit Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital. It is the only Government facility in the entire country that takes care of all our patients who are challenged with this increasingly common disease in our country. You will witness for yourself the underfunding that continues to go 30 institutions. Many of these patients live in very difficult conditions. In fact, when you visit the hospital, the unfortunate thing is that you realize why once a patient is taken there, it is not easy for them to come out due to the conditions. Even the doctors that serve there are not well taken care of. Unfortunately, such is the stigma against this challenge. I am told that within the doctors' circles when you fall out with the Ministry, you are referred to serve at the mental hospital. I have seen this happen to some of the doctors because of the challenges with the Ministry of Health. I will be raising some of these concerns when we speak later on into the Bill by our colleague, Sen. (Dr.) Ali on human resource issues in the heath sector."
}