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{
    "id": 1485020,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1485020/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 282,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Francis Sigei",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13714,
        "legal_name": "Hon. Francis Sigei",
        "slug": "hon-francis-sigei"
    },
    "content": "Health is the most critical docket in the nation. I call health workers – that is the people we are talking about - health warriors. They are health warriors because they protect the nation by taking care of the health of the Kenyans so that our people can be productive. Any nation should not have its people infected with simple ailments which can be detected early and be treated. Therefore, Hon. Temporary Speaker, this Bill is going to play a critical role. It intends to transform and professionalise the health workers’ profession. Health workers work with the people at the grassroots. They understand their language since they spend time with the people from morning up to evening. That trajectory is changing because they are going there from time to time and they will be given more information on the latest technology and medicine. They will also be taught on how to approach various issues. I support this Motion. I also want to say that prevention is far much better than cure. For a very long time, we have concentrated more on curative approach which has been very expensive for the Government. Therefore, this Bill has been introduced at the right time to save the Government from spending a huge amount of money which can be saved by that important part of our population. I want to mention that the health workers are critical. They can assist our people who are suffering from terminal diseases by providing counselling and assisting them in managing their daily problems. This is very important. For a very long time, we have had problems in our rural areas where people travel long distances to get medical services. I am talking about maternity cases, where women have had complications while they are giving birth. Child mortality gives us problems, but we can save our children by using those important ‘warriors’ as I called them earlier. Emphasis should be put on training. Again, I want to mention that the Ksh2,500 token of appreciation that they are given is not enough. I am very sure that we can save a lot of money from that curative approach and give it to those health ‘warriors’ for upkeep. As any other Kenyan, they also have needs. Therefore, I support this Bill. We should also appeal to the county governments to be more serious in providing health care. The problem that we have is the provision of healthcare services in the county governments. We have a lot of problems. There are no drugs, services or doctors. We implore upon county governments to be more serious and assist those community workers so that they can be effective. Therefore, I thank the Member of Parliament from Ndhiwa for moving this very important Bill. We only hope that the implementation, which is very critical and where we have failed most of the time, will be done in a special professional way and the Government must account for those health workers. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I support this Bill."
}