Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1402213,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1402213/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 282,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ogola",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you can never achieve UHC if we do not look at the welfare of doctors. Health is a basic right, but as this goes on unattended by the same Government that talks about universal care, do we think about pregnant women back in the villages who are seeking services from quirks because doctors that have been trained from the investment of Kenyans are away from hospitals and the Government seems not to be keen? Do we think about children who should have been attending clinics? Do we really think about the elderly that go every day for medical services from our public hostel? As the public hostels are closed, what Kenyans are left with is to run to quacks, which we are not sure even of the skills that they have. Our mothers, our sick people are running---We have just come from recess. Back there, we saw mothers carrying sick children seeking treatment from every other clinic, some of them as a government or people's representative, we are not even sure of the skills they have. Kenyans have invested in the training of doctors and for a number of people. I hope all of us have gone to school. As you are going to school even at higher education, we knew the many hours that doctors take in their training. So, what doctors are asking for is acceptable. Think about some of the issues that the doctors are raising, such as risk allowance. Just the other day when we had the COVID period, all Kenyans were advised and restricted to stay in their houses. The only people who were left attending to the sick with all the risks were medics. In the morning, I listened to the Cabinet Secretary. She made a statement that let the medics come to them. The Cabinet Secretary and the Government should go to the medics. If your people have raised issues, the only honourable thing that the Cabinet Secretary and the Government need to do is to reach out to the medics, listen to their grievances and have them addressed. I do not think that all the medics are presenting a request that cannot be managed by the Government. As I have said, Kenyans invested in these doctors. When you go to hospitals as presented by the Mover, the first call of action is always by the interns. They do three-quarters of the work at the hospital. So, I do not think that what they are asking for is out of reach of the Government. So, the Government must listen to the medics. There is the notion that the Cabinet Secretary and other people have been propagating; that health is devolved. The national Government should neither have a say nor even be concerned about solving this challenge. This country is made up of 47 governments and one major Government. The buck stops with the national Government. The Government sets standards, guidelines and policies that must be overseen. If health is managed well, then Kenya will meet the Universal Health Care that we are trying to propagate. I want to end by saying that there is no Kenya that is a county or Kenya that is a national Government."
}