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"id": 123179,
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"content": "Currently, in India, and I have just been to India a couple of weeks ago. I visited several hospitals in New Dheli, Hyderabad and Bangalore. My take is that in India you can have haemodialysis for anything between Kshs1,400 and Kshs1,800. Here in Kenya, haemodialysis cannot cost you less than Kshs9,000. There are only two places where you can have haemodialysis much cheaper. That is at the Lions Hosptial in Loresho where, because of their humanitarian concerns, they will give you dialysis for about Kshs4,000 or less. Again, at the Mary Hill Hospital in Eldoret, where the proprietor of that hospital has brought in dialysis machines less costly and is offering that service for much less than Kshs8,000. Elsewhere, because of the monopoly of dialysis machines by a few facilities, it can cost you a lot, especially if you are to dialyze once weekly or even more frequently. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, diabetes is a life-threatening ailment. Nobody invites diabetes to visit them. Sometimes it is as result of lifestyle or old age. I am determined as the Minister for Medical Services to ensure that these dialysis machines are available in Government hospitals from the sub district hospital upwards, so that their scarcity does not lead to their being costly when dialysis services are offered to Kenyans. Again, I notice in terms of strategy that this document says the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) is to be transformed into a national health insurance scheme that covers all Kenyans within which older persons should be non-contributory members. This is right spot on. We are making proposals to the Government to amend the NHIF, so that it can cover non- members. At the moment, there is what I call special members. On the 30th of November this year, I will be launching in Mumias, the first trial of NHIF covering out patients. This will be carried out in about 12 facilities, some in Mumias, some in Nairobi, for a period of two months so that we can learn, through experience, how we can extend the services of NHIF to out-patients. We shall also, through that experiment, see how we can cover non-contributory members, particularly the poor. Fortunately, some of our development partners have agreed to contribute to the coverage of non-contributory members, before we change the law. Sometimes non-contributory members are called indigents. Those who cannot afford will be covered by the Government. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when this Bill comes to Parliament for establishing a comprehensive social health insurance scheme, I appeal to members to give it full support. I know that when this was tried in 2005, the President did not sign it into law for two very good reasons."
}