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{
"id": 1344001,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1344001/?format=api",
"text_counter": 184,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) James Nyikal",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. This is an important Bill for the health services in this country. In health, there is a lot of information. If you start at an individual level when a patient is being looked after, you will have huge files full of information on individuals. Hon. Speaker, we use this information to manage people. With e-health now, we can manage people in long distances. We need that information. It must be transmitted from one place to another, not only within the country, but internationally because people worldwide seek healthcare. Actual management and treatment of patients with telemedicine has made it possible to manage some cases, including surgery. A lot of information is, therefore, flowing through the system. This information is personal. It is used to manage patients and hospitals. Beyond that, health systems have massive amounts of information. The data that we have concerning the equipment, drugs and supplies is enormous information. We use this to monitor how the system is being managed and how our health system is working. Look at the link between the Ministry and the information that goes there in national management, managing national affairs and planning. The health indices - infant mortality, maternal mortality, under-five mortality, access to immunisation, access to drugs and levels of malnutrition - are extremely important in planning. This massive information must be linked to our national data, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), and the Ministry of National Treasury and Economic Planning. We have a lot of information. Most of it is being managed either manually or digitally right now. We have little information and systems everywhere that do not talk to each other. Therefore, they cannot give us the information we require. Hon. Speaker, it is even worse with devolution because we do not have a huge health information system that talks at the national and county levels. We do it manually. If we are doing it digitally, the systems that we have are not coordinated or integrated. It is important that we now move and digitise all of them. If this is done, it will obviously improve efficiency. It also introduces a considerable risk. This information that is flowing digitally can be accessed easily. There is the danger of hacking individual, hospital, national and county information or any information digitally. It is time that we looked into that. That is precisely what this Bill is doing. It creates an integrated, comprehensive health information system that can talk to all institutions nationwide - at the county government, national and hospital levels. That is created in this information. Once you have that information, you need to manage data. It is a danger and security risk if it is not managed at the national level. Therefore, this Bill creates a system of data management. As I said earlier, if you do not think about it, what about the personal level, security of the data, and individual information that people do not want to be everywhere? This Bill looks like this. Information can be treated so that you cannot identify the individuals to whom the data is related. That is in the Bill. Confidentiality and security are assured. We are creating a system that will employ people who are well-versed in the management of data and data security. Hon. Speaker, I will compare health data nationally to military security. What does the military use to protect our lives? The information about our lives is equally important. It cannot be a security problem. I support this Bill because it creates systems that will deal with that. When all the computers and digital equipment in X-rays and laboratories are not used, many still have the information inside. Hon. Speaker, we had a great American called Edgar Hoover who used to go behind offices and take what was in the dustbins to get information. Our current dustbins are where we put digital equipment that has been used. We must find a way of managing e-waste because it will give away our information. As I said earlier, our people move from this country to other 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."
}