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{
    "id": 1338178,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1338178/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 255,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo (",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Funyula, ODM): Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. Indeed, if there is anything — let me echo the sentiment of the Leader of the Majority Party — that causes butterflies in our stomachs, it is the calls we receive from our constituents concerning medical bills. Any bill, policy or administrative action that addresses this challenge is always welcome, and I urge all our colleagues to support it. The Facilities Improvement Financing Bill No.43 of 2023 is an important Bill. If you go to health facilities of whichever level in our constituencies, you are often told that they cannot provide services, drugs and even basic things like gloves or reagents for testing because they have no money. That is because all the money they collect as user charges ends up in the revenue account, which is not ring-fenced and, therefore, those particular funds end up being used up in some other places. Consequently, most hospitals, be it health centres, clinics or whatever we categorise them, are perpetually suffering because they cannot access the money they have generated. Thus, this amendment or this new Act will go a long way in solving this problem. As I mentioned, going forward, we require a little more amendment to this Act to speak to the reality on the ground and to ensure the question of pilferage and the question of loss of funds does not become endemic as has happened elsewhere. This Bill has various proposals. Unfortunately, it limits. When this Bill becomes an Act, it shall only apply to Level 1 to Level 5 public health facilities. So, it means that the referral hospitals at the national level are excluded. I would have also thought that because this Bill applies to those public facilities, why can we not find a mechanism of roping in some private facilities that are more or less community-run, for example, mission hospitals and hospitals 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."
}