HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 207406,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/207406/?format=api",
"text_counter": 199,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Khalwale",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for East African Community",
"speaker": {
"id": 170,
"legal_name": "Bonny Khalwale",
"slug": "bonny-khalwale"
},
"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. May I beg that you allow me an extra two minutes. I have lost a lot of time on procedural issues. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I pay my personal tribute, during this Motion time, to Prof. Miriam Were, who is chairing the National Aids Control Council (NACC). That is because from the time she was appointed four years ago, she has made tremendous achievements in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Prof. Miriam Were deserves a recognition for her role. I hope that one of these days, she will have an opportunity of serving in this House as a nominated Member of Parliament, instead of some of the kind of people whom I see pushing that we adopt affirmative action, when there is very little they would add even if they are given the opportunity to serve here. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the kind of work NACC is doing is so commendable that, I am afraid if it had not been there, this country would almost have come to a standstill. I remember five years ago, whenever I could do a ward round in a hospital, almost 60 per cent of the patients used to have HIV/AIDS related complaints. But that has gone down to the extent that, while four years ago, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS was as high as 14.9 per cent in Kenya, now the national average is only 5.1 per cent. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I use this opportunity to assure hon. Members that the history of epidemics and pandemics the world over is such that, every pandemic or epidemic tends to find its own level. If we put in a lot of effort in the fight against HIV/AIDS, I am quite confident that by the time HIV/AIDS finds its own level - a situation where people will be able to co-exist with it - we will do so at a time when we will not have lost the kind of lives we are losing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, having complimented NACC, I believe we must be brave and accept that there is still more that could be done to attain bigger achievements on the way forward in the fight against the HIV/AIDS. One of those include learning from the experience in Coast Province. Today, Coast Province, which five years ago used to have some of the highest 3360 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 22, 2007 figures of prevalence of HIV/AIDS, is number six today, when you put it on the order of the provinces. Our experts should go and find out what has happened in Coast Province. It has improved from being the most affected to where it is now, with a mere 93,000 cases. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the same applies to Western Province. I do not understand why, for instance, Western Province, which is in the same geographical set up with Nyanza Province, and have almost the same cultural practices, has such a low figure of prevalence, unlike Nyanza, with has such high figures of prevalence! Behaviour changes must be actually---"
}