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{
    "id": 1419580,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1419580/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 281,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "I watched as my younger brother was born one Saturday morning. I was sleeping, but was woken up and told to leave for my mother to give birth on the same bed. The young boy born on that day is a doctor. He was delivered by a woman who did not even go to primary school. There is indigenous knowledge. They are called wakunga in Kiswahili and nyamrerwa in Luo. I am sure in every other culture there are those skilled persons not in the modern sense, but with indigenous knowledge. They know which plant to use when you have a boil. They will get some plants, squeeze or boil them, apply it on the boil and it will burst within two or three days. They know what to use for respiratory problems for children. Nowadays, many children are born with respiratory problems because of climate change and degraded environment. Those women without Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) or Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) would boil some concoction in a pot and cover us in it and it would not just heal but cure those kinds of problems. We saw it when COVID-19 came. The things that those women used to do for us back in the days became the new norm. They would take trees like the neem tree and boil it. As bitter as it was, when you drank it, it would flush out the diseases. How do we incorporate that indigenous knowledge into our mainstream health interventions? The Community Health Workers (CHW) that the President launched not too long ago and the programme that this Senate passed a legislative framework to support, cannot fit in the shoes of those traditional women, health attendants, and midwives who were able to help my mother give birth to a doctor today. This is because there is a curriculum, training, and knowledge. You have to be trained on a few things. We must find a way of integrating those indigenous knowledge holders within the modern structures. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, even if we go to the top of the pyramid when it comes to childcare, we know that those experts who are trained to deal with issues of children are called paediatricians. They take care of children. I would be very happy to be informed by the Senator for Kakamega because he is a medical expert. Whereas gynaecologists take care of the women, I am not very sure who takes care of the men when it comes to reproductive issues. If you told me as a man to go and see a gynaecologist, I would be a bit hesitant. I hope that there are gynaecologists who can take care of the problems that men have. However, I am sure that paediatricians take care of children. If you look at the number of paediatricians in this country and compare it with the number of children that we have, the ratio is completely imbalanced. Furthermore, we do not have a national paediatric institution. What we have in this country is Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital, which has been around. It is a non-profit and provide very good services. However, it cannot then have the soul, and the DNA that you need out of a national paediatric referral institution. This House must move a Motion and resolve that this country must have a national institution dedicated to children, a national paediatric facility. Other countries have done it. We have Kenyatta National Referral Hospital (KNH) specializing in everything and about anything. However, we need to have an institution that specializes in childcare. For example, what Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital has done, but with the support from public coffers. If someone has 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."
}