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{
    "id": 1407835,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1407835/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 414,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Bill prescribes a comprehensive assessment, a diagnosis, a treatment, rehabilitation, referral and follow-up as may be prescribed. Madam Temporary Speaker, as a country we should not have a problem with follow-ups because just recently, we provided community health workers in our counties that are paid. These are some of the services that they will be providing to our populations. Clause 9 talks about services for women with special needs. I already referred to these cohorts of special needs, that we have women who have mental and psychological problems and we must cater for them when they are pregnant. They must receive appropriate pregnancy-related services as may be prescribed even at their state of mental needs. It basically means that there must be extra care that is taken on these special needs cohorts above the normal health needs that we deal with on an everyday basis. Maternal health services that are responsive to the needs of pregnant women with special needs must be provided. There must be diagnosis, treatment and follow-ups of mental health problems, both acute and chronic, including emotional and learning disorders. In the case of pregnant adolescents, we must speak them out because we know they are younger people who might not be privy to certain knowledge. This Bill spells out the services that are entitled to them. We must provide adolescent friendly health services, counselling and anticipatory guidance because we anticipate that being adolescents, they also have peculiar needs that will need peculiar care. In the case of women with disability, we must provide disability-friendly services. This Bill spells out the role of two levels of Government; that is the national Government and county governments in their functions in contributing to the health care of maternal, newborn and child health. The county governments have the major functions in health. The national Government remains with the standards, the guidelines, collaboration, public participation, monitoring and education. This is because people need to know some of these services that are provided in this Bill. We have a monitoring and evaluation unit in Part IV because it would be important that as a country, we are able to pick where these people are. We should ensure that these services are given and where they are not given, then we should be able to make corrections in time. This Bill talks about quality assurance. That, the Cabinet Secretary shall ensure the implementation and adherence to standards and guidelines in quality in maternal, newborn and child service in our hostels, institutions and referrals hospitals. That is what will make a difference from what we have been doing in the past. This Bill spells out certain punitive measures in the general provisions. For example, in Clause 24 2A, it spells out that a person offering these services, who knowingly contributes or commits an offence is entitled to some fine not exceeding Kshs500,000. They are talking of a hospital or a health facility offering these services. There is a punitive Clause that spells out a fine not exceeding Kshs1 million or imprisonment if some of the services that are spelt out are not offered."
}