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{
    "id": 1110339,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1110339/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 325,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kihika",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13216,
        "legal_name": "Susan Wakarura Kihika",
        "slug": "susan-wakarura-kihika"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, we are also aware and know that if there is a problem in this country or in governance, it is really in the healthcare sector. I say this knowing that this happens at every county from one to 47. I am not sure that I have seen any county that has been able to handle the issues in the health sector well. We see this through the many strikes and complaints that we have seen and the soft underbelly of this has been exposed during this Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) time. We have seen the very poor working conditions that the workers in the healthcare sector have experienced especially during this pandemic. One of the other things that I have seen lately is a lot of them being recruited to go outside Kenya and work in countries such as the UK, US, Canada, Australia and that sort of stuff. Meaning we do have very qualified healthcare workers in the country but we have not seemed to put much premium on what they offer to our citizens. You find they work very long hours and poor pay. Madam Temporary Speaker, actually this weekend, I met a few young ladies. I was quite impressed because they were very young ladies and they were like five. I just happened to meet them somewhere in some place. What surprised me was hearing that they were all unemployed. These were doctors and dentists. I was quite surprised to hear that a lot of them are even unemployed even at a time where we have a ratio of doctor to patient of about one to 16,000. Even though the recommended United Nations and World Health Organisation (WHO) ratio is one to 1,000. Clearly, they are very overworked and many are jobless but the conditions are poor. We even saw them during COVID-19 in a lot of the hospitals not having sufficient gear and they lack supplies. Those sort of issue are there. That is why I said Sen. (Dr.) Ali, thank you for beginning somewhere. I see from what you are trying to set up using the council, it would be advising on issues to do with recruitment, employment, deployment, promotions and the things that we are speaking to that have not been going quit well in the counties. Madam Temporary Speaker, however, I am not sure how exactly this will be done at the national level when the counties are the ones responsible and mandated to handle as this is a devolved function. That is in as far as the recruiting and employment is concerned. I would also agree they will probably need some sort of standards so that we attract the healthcare personnel in Sen. (Dr.) Ali’s county of Wajir the same way we are able to attract them in my county of Nakuru or wherever else. I do believe that there is room and need to have some standardisation. I am just not sure how once it gets to the Committee, we will bring that on board. This is so that it"
}