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{
    "id": 1419579,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1419579/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 280,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "next to a tarmac or an electricity pole. In the past, it used to be a telephone line. Away from the tarmac, many people are losing children under the age of five. We are talking of 41 out of 1,000 births, but you might find that the number is much higher in certain parts of Northern, Eastern and Southern Kenya. If this Bill is well implemented and has enforceable provisions, it should ensure that children do not die out of preventable reasons. Where I come from, we have the problem of malaria. Many of us suffered repeated bouts of malaria while growing up. It is just by the grace of God that we are still alive. Perhaps we were close to certain facilities and could get medication. Malaria is still a leading killer of children under the age of five. Unfortunately, the national Government does not have its own budget for malaria. Malaria support in this country comes from donors. I do not want to speculate because many people have said that the national Government does not care about malaria because it is a disease for the tropics around Lake Victoria and the coast. It is not a disease for the highlands. I refuse to agree with that characterization because I do not want to imagine that we have had governments that have decided to let people who live in opposition areas die of malaria. However, the fact that the national Government tends not to have its own line budget, relying mostly on presidential funds from the United States (US) and funds from multilateral and bilateral sources tells you that the Government is sometimes insensitive. I could survive if malaria hits me today but results could be different for a child under the age of five. We must ask ourselves to what extent has the national Government devolved immunization access to county governments. Immunization and its politics is almost similar to that of fertilizer. In a country that gives farmers sand and soil and other things that cannot generate productivity, we will be surprised one day to find that we are injecting our children with water and placebo. I do not want that to be the case and I hope that I will never be proven right. However, if our morals are to the point where we can fool farmers by giving them seed that cannot germinate and fertilizer knowing well that it is stones and sand, do you think something can prevent us from giving our children water and placebo and things that are not useful? I hope that this Bill by Sen. Beatrice Ogola will make sure that immunization services, which are part of child and newborn health, are properly transferred to county governments. If that happens, county governments must be compelled to provide proper budgetary allocations for those kinds of services. I know the national Government tends to want to do big procurements for vaccines. We saw that during the COVID-19 outbreak. We must confirm that vaccines that our children are consuming is not water or placebo but the right thing. When it comes to the health of mothers, the Linda Mama Programme that was initiated in 2013 was perhaps one of the good things that came out of the Uhuru administration. We must give credit where it is due. It was launched in 2013. The objective was to enhance or broaden access to maternal health support services. Statistics show that because of the Linda Mama Programme, more women are now giving birth in skilled care facilities. Perhaps half of us here were born at home. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}