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{
"id": 1343979,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1343979/?format=api",
"text_counter": 162,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung'wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Hon. Speaker, I beg to move: THAT, the Digital Health Bill, (National Assembly Bill No.57 of 2023), be now read a Second Time. Allow me to begin by thanking the Departmental Committee on Health for tabling a very comprehensive Report. They have done it in a timely manner, having undertaken thorough public participation during the recess. I particularly thank them because they did this when the House was on a working recess. Many other Members were back in their constituencies, but they sacrificed their time to engage with members of the public and all Kenyans, including institutions in the health space. They were able to listen to their views and adopt those views in the compilation of their Report under the leadership of the Chairman, Hon. (Dr) Pukose. We thank you on behalf of the House. Hon. Speaker, our nation has made significant strides towards digital transformation in various sectors, leveraging technology to enhance the implementation and delivery of services and products within the digital space. Key among those innovations in the digital space are in the financial sector. Besides M-PESA, the most recent has been the Hustler Fund, where people can now access money by simply dialling on their phones without having to fill out papers or having to know anybody. The health sector has not been left behind. It has made steady progress in digital technology transformation by implementing digital solutions to manage, share and use health data. Hon. Speaker, Members will appreciate products like M-tiba. I have seen a number of pharmacies around the country that use digital solutions to provide and deliver pharmaceutical products to their clients — both consumers or patients and hospitals, and also other dispensers of pharmaceutical products. However, the adoption of technology has been very uncoordinated and characterised by fragmented implementation with health sector actors and not adhering to basic digital health standards, guidelines, recommendations and digital development principles. These technologies have affected how health data is managed, resulting in multiple desparate systems that have limited ability to exchange data. This Bill now seeks to provide a framework for the provision of digital services, to establish a digital health agency, a comprehensive integrated digital health information system, and also to provide for data governance and protection of personal health information in the service delivery through digital health interventions on e-waste disposal and on health tourism. You will see from Clause 5, Part Two, that almost the entire Part Two of the Bill speaks to the establishment of this health agency. From Clause 6, you will see that the agency will be established as a body corporate and will develop, operationalise and maintain the comprehensive integrated health information system, to manage the core digital systems and the infrastructure required for its seamless health information exchange. It will also develop and implement the infrastructure for health data exchange of health information in a secure manner. It will undertake resource mobilization for the implementation of health digitisation in the country. This agency will also certify digital health solutions based on best practices and standards to ensure that all the digital solutions being used in the country are, indeed, certified. It was also, amongst other objectives and the functions stipulated in that clause, to advise the Cabinet Secretary on matters related to digital health. Hon. Speaker, the Bill further sets the minimum standards applicable for establishing and maintaining digital health information systems. It provides for the mechanism for inter- connectivity between each county's information system and the national system. Under this Comprehensive Integrated Digital Health Information System, all our health facilities, right from the primary health care facilities at the level of dispensaries, those at Level 3, 4, 5, 6 to the national referral hospitals like Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) 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."
}