HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 211397,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/211397/?format=api",
"text_counter": 180,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Miriti",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Trade and Industry",
"speaker": {
"id": 371,
"legal_name": "Petkay Shem Nkiria Miriti",
"slug": "petkay-miriti"
},
"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Vote for the Ministry of Health. First, let me congratulate the Minister and Assistant Minister for the work which has been done by the Ministry of Health for the last four years. It has been very good work. Before this Government took over, drugs were not available in hospitals. Likewise, the services which were being provided in hospitals were very inferior, compared to those rendered in private hospitals and hospitals in other countries. Since this Government took over power, medical services have improved to very high standards. The provision of drugs has been adequate. We know that before 2003, it was very difficult to get drugs in hospitals. Even items as small as bandages and elastoplast were not available. In some hospitals, patients were being asked to go and buy small items like injection needles, bandages, elastoplast and the like. In fact, the situation had worsened to the extent that we even had kiosks which were selling medical equipment near hospitals. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we now have free Anti-Retro Viral drugs and other drugs for treating malaria and other diseases, being availed in hospitals. Likewise, maternity services which were very expensive, are now being provided free of charge. That is to the credit of the Ministry of Health. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, however, there are a few areas which need attention. There are cases, as I have said here, of application for gazettement of dispensaries and health centres which take years. When we go to medical officers of health, there is no explanation for the causes of such delays. Applications for gazettement of such institutions have taken so long that even the communities which were involved in the construction of such facilities feel as if they are being let down by the Government. We would like the Minister to look into this, so that gazettement does not take more than one month. We do not know why the process takes so long. It is as if some of the personnel at the headquarters do not read their files. We have other cases of health centres and dispensaries which have stayed for a very long time without being upgraded. We also have health centres which have remained as dispensaries for over 20 or 30 years. We would like the Minister, or the Ministry, to be reviewing such facilities and considering them for upgrading, or construction of important facilities, on an annual basis. On the use, or misuse, of Government facilities, there are a few complaints that Government facilities like theatres continue to be used for private practice. There are also facilities where patients who undergo surgical operations are charged by some doctors. We also have complaints that Government equipment like mosquito nets and medicines are being used by some people to gain influence in certain parts of this country. In fact, some aspirants are campaigning using the Ministry of Health equipment. We would like the Minister to look into such issues, so that we can curtail such malpractices. The Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have quite a number, in fact very many, of dispensaries and health centres which have been constructed through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) and they are not operational, because we do not have nurses, clinical officers and medicine. Maybe it is due to the same problem of their non-gazettement, and I would like the Minister to look into this matter. In the area of public health, I really do not know whether the Ministry looks into the cleanliness and hygiene in our urban centres. We have urban areas which are very filthy. If you go round, you will find the food that is given to people, the sort of accommodation and the environment itself are very filthy. We would like the Ministry's staff not to look at only the cities and municipalities. We would like the public health officers to go round the small urban centres and ensure that even before licencing premises, they are clean, because I think they are the major August 1, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2933 cause of very many diseases around the country. We would like the Ministry to employ nurses. There are so many trained nurses, who are out there, seeking employment. Now that the Ministry has been given more money, we would like the Minister to speed up the matter of employment of nurses, so that we do not have so many unemployed nurses, and at the same time so many hospitals without the same people who, if employed, would be serving in such institutions. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}