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{
    "id": 1460313,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1460313/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 209,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nyeri Town, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Duncan Mathenge",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you. I stand to support the Motion by Hon. Mishi Mboko. However, I seek to differ with the wording. We already have the Kenya Mental Health Policy of 2015 to 2030. If you look at it, it has proposed policy measures and interventions. I beg that we expand the scope of implementation of that policy. I am also a Member of the Departmental Committee on Health. It is clear in my mind that the issues of mental health in this country have not received requisite attention. We see too many things in the level of organisation of healthcare in this country. On Community Health Promoters form the first level, there is nothing for mental health conditions even in Level 4 hospitals. Therefore, you find that even referral systems and organisation of healthcare is not responsive enough to healthcare needs. Since it is a 2015 policy, our country has data that is almost 15 years old. The data says one in four persons who seek services in our outpatient healthcare facilities have mental health issues. Secondly, Kenya is the country with the fourth highest cases of mental health conditions in Africa. We need to look at the interventions we need. First is at the community level where we should be able to deploy medical social health workers. We have a large pool of jobless social health workers in this country today. Therefore, the request for collaboration between the national and county governments is a welcome move so that we deploy medical social workers in communities. Possibly, we need an integration of medical social workers into the Community Health Promoters’ setup that is already in place. 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."
}