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{
    "id": 1286095,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1286095/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 300,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Dullo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13125,
        "legal_name": "Dullo Fatuma Adan",
        "slug": "dullo-fatuma-adan"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. I take this opportunity to thank the Senate for holding Senate Mashinani in Turkana County. We can learn a lot from this visit than when we sit in Nairobi. Secondly, this Bill is important. I remember in the last Senate, I chaired a Committee that was looking at the Medical Equipment Scheme (MES) where governors were forced to sign some memorandum without even doing a proper needs assessment. In that programme, equipment was dumped at various facilities that did not have electricity, water and other amenities. The Government has spent a lot of money over the years on medical care but, unfortunately, we have never gotten it right. I wish the Government’s side had organized a visit to one of the dispensaries in Turkana County for us to really understand how they operate. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as the Senate Majority Leader has said, Isiolo County was one of the counties in the Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Unfortunately, we have absolutely nothing to show as far as UHC is concerned. We only ended up spending a lot of money. One of the things we had challenges with were the cards issued for UHC purposes. That card could not be used in any other facility even in referral cases. What was the use of having those cards? That anomaly should be corrected before we go to this particular programme. Where, if I do not get service delivery in Isiolo County, and I am referred to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), I can be admitted or attended to there. Mr. Speaker, Sir, that did not happen when UHC was launched in the previous programme. The Senate had requested for an audit of what happened during the first launch of UHC. I have come across some audit report but it was never publicized or used in a proper manner so that we correct the situation. I know I will be cut short but if you go to a hospital, hospital health management committees are there on paper. They do zero work. Hospitals are run by chief officers, County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) and governors. I am sure that if we do not have proper structures even on this programme, then it will just be another futile exercise. We need to do something about this Bill if we want to achieve our objective. Mr. Speaker, Sir, our dispensaries have nothing. You cannot even get Panadol. Some Level IV county referral hospitals do not even have paracetamol and yet we spend a lot of money in those hospitals. Considering this Bill is important for all of us, I wish the Senate could sit and come up with proper amendments that can benefit our people so that we can say that, yes, this time, we did it right. This is long overdue. Our mothers are dying and our patients are---"
}