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{
    "id": 1343980,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1343980/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 163,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung'wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "in Kiambu County, will be integrated in one similar system, and exchange of medical information will become easy. Therefore, if you have a CT scan done on you in Kisumu at the Kisumu Referral Hospital, a doctor in Kenyatta National Hospital or Nairobi Hospital can access that scan and advise the person treating you down at the Kisumu Referral Hospital or in a Level 3 hospital in Marsabit County. You will not necessarily be required to have all manner of consultants scattered around the country. Health personnel will benefit from more experienced personnel at the national level or in our national referral hospitals by exchanging such data in a seamless and secure system where patients' data is safely gathered. You are certain that your data as a patient is not subject to abuse or to be misused by characters out there. Hon. Speaker, this Bill also seeks to facilitate the realisation of the right to protection of personal information, as guaranteed under Article 31 of the Constitution of Kenya and the Data Protection Act No.24 of 2019. Members are aware that enacting the Data Protection Act of 2019 presented new challenges for the health sector in Kenya as the sector handles sensitive patient data whose protection requires more safeguards. Therefore, this Bill fills that gap to ensure that patient data is safeguarded. In the past, Members’ patient data has been leaked to people who should not hold private or confidential patient data. With this new Bill, nobody - be it a Member of Parliament or any Kenyan attended to at a health facility anywhere within the country - should be apprehensive or afraid that people with no right to it will access their patient data. The Bill also enhances the health data governance framework in the country by requiring all healthcare providers and health facilities to adopt mechanisms to ensure the safety and security of patient information, as I had previously articulated. Kenyans will now have more control over their data, particularly in health facilities, because they will be required to consent before collecting, processing, and sharing their personal health-related information. With the adoption of this Bill, nobody should fear that any data that is collected will be shared without their consent. You must consent for your data to be collected and shared with anybody, even if it is another referral hospital or health professional. It can only be shared with your consent. I thank the Committee for being very emphatic as they engaged with stakeholders that patient data should be well-safeguarded. I see that in their Report. Besides what is provided for in the Data Protection Act, the Bill provides further safeguards or guardrails to ring-fence the data that is collected in the health sector. The Bill further regulates the processing of sensitive personal health data through technological mediums such as telemedicine. In this regard, the Bill requires healthcare providers and technology platforms that offer telemedicine to put in place several safeguards, including anonymisation and de-identification of sensitive personal data. Anonymisation and de-identification mean that one can transfer or share data anonymously without clearly identifying whose data it is. I see Hon. Junet holding his chin. He should not worry that anybody will share his health information, if he is treated at a health facility in Migori and that the health facility requires referral services from his consultant doctors, be it in London or at the Nairobi Hospital. I know Hon. Junet sees a doctor I also see at the Kenyatta National Hospital Doctor’s Plaza. Therefore, I only use him as an example when I mention London, although I know he likes traveling to London. He need not be apprehensive. If he was attended to at the Suna Sub- County Dispensary and the dispensary needs to share his health data with a consultant at the Kenyatta National Hospital, that data must be de-identified and anonymised such that the consultant will not know if it is Junet Mohammed or Kimani Ichung’wah who was being treated at Lusigetti Sub-County Hospital in Nachu Ward, Kikuyu Constituency. This is because they cannot see the patient. 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."
}