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{
    "id": 1460318,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1460318/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 214,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Makueni, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Suzanne Kiamba",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "will spend their time visiting witchdoctors to try and address the problem. This is because they do not acknowledge that it is a mental issue. Hon. Temporary Speaker, this is very important. We realise that issues of mental health have resorted to a lot of wastage. When we have health staff who are not sensitive to issues of mental health, whether social health promoters or staff in hospitals, there is a lot of misdiagnoses. Once one is misdiagnosed, it results to wastage since you are treated for ailments that you are not suffering from. Most of the problems we are addressing with a lot of resources could be as a result of some of these mental health cases at the household, community or institutional level. If we had a policy like this, we could easily mainstream and sensitise our people in such a way that they can address mental health issues. We have not done research as someone has said, to know some of the core factors contributing to mental health issues. It is rumoured that hard economic times is one of the factors. I support that. If you look at Kenya today, even young children are killing themselves. Mothers are killing their children. In most communities in Africa culturally, it was unheard of, for mothers to kill their children. It is now very common for mothers to kill all their children and even kill themselves. Most of this has been attributed to mental health issues. So, this is a timely Motion, but we also have to think about the budget. We have very many proposals on mental health issues that need to be prioritised. If you go to Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital where there are known mental health cases and look at the budget we give them, it tells you that we do not see it as a problem. We think it is individual confusion. This Motion needs to get all the attention and especially the issue of mainstreaming it in health. I do not think we can have personnel in everything. If we mainstream it, right from the grassroots by the health promoters, these issues will be picked and the affected people will be taken to appropriate institutions. Otherwise, I support. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."
}