HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 211574,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/211574/?format=api",
"text_counter": 167,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Obwocha",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Planning and National Development",
"speaker": {
"id": 356,
"legal_name": "Henry Onyancha Obwocha",
"slug": "henry-obwocha"
},
"content": " Thank you, Mr. July 31, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2843 Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would like to congratulate the Minister for ably moving this Vote. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a very important Vote to everybody. Kenyans, from our clarion call in 1963, vowed to fight poverty and disease. We have not successfully eradicated all the diseases. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, at the outset, I want to join the Minister by saying that we need health facilities that are accessible and affordable to Kenyans. I believe that is a noble goal to which everybody should be committed. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are extremely grateful and happy that the funding to the health sector has moved from Kshs18 billion in the year 2003 to Kshs34 billion. But that is not enough because, as you know, the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) are committed that we should move from that 10 per cent to a maximum figure of 15 per cent, so that we can be on the road to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). What we have allocated is just 10 per cent of our Budget. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is the area where I should come in. Of the eight MDGs, three are in the health sector. The first one is aimed at combating HIV/AIDS. As you know, this is a big problem not only in Kenya, but in Africa and the world. But I want to commend the Ministry of Health for moving fairly fast to tackle that problem. I am happy that the Minister has said that the prevalence rate has moved down from 14 per cent, 6.7 per cent and now, 5.9 per cent. I believe that is commendable. But we should still insist that the Ministry - our doctors and people who are handling that issue - to move to preventive measures. We know that the Global Fund has been providing money to tackle that scourge. But the issue of prevention should be key in our fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other day, when I was in Zambia for the AU Summit, I was shocked that the head of the Malaria Section in Zambia is a Kenyan. Of course, that is a credit to this country about manpower development. But more emphasis should be given to that issue. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to make a comment about malaria. In the earlier days, when we used DDT, we had virtually eliminated malaria. I would like doctors to tell us whether that is not an issue that we could still tackle on those lines. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other two MDGs are maternal healthcare and child mortality. I want to commend the Minister for her recent announcement about the maternal healthcare that is now being provided to Kenyan mothers. The overall position is that we should strive, as a country, to achieve those three MDGs by the year 2015, alongside others like gender, which is fairly easy if Kenyans could agree on how to tackle gender issues. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have a comment to make on the management of health facilities. We must make sure that our provincial and district hospitals, sub-district hospitals and other health facilities are well managed. To this end, I want to say that first, we need to encourage our doctors. We need to look at their pay package. They spend long hours working. I will be one of those people supporting that doctors should receive better pay and facilities. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister is here. I want to inform her that Nyamira District Hospital needs equipment. For example, the X-Ray machine has broken down. They need a new one. From Nyamira to Kisii, patients have a problem of accessing X-Ray services. Now, they need an ultra-sound machine and an aesthetic machine with a patient monitor. Those are some of the things they require. They need a gynaecologist. There are not even five doctors in Nyamira. I think they are now four. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue is the Rural Drug Fund (RDF). Nyamira District was a pilot project. It succeeded very well, but since when the Belgians handed it over to our people and left, it has been very poorly run. The drugs are now very expensive - something we had taken care of - and accessibility to those drugs has become difficult. So, I want to plead with the 2844 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 31, 2007 Minister that this is one area I would like her, or the Permanent Secretary, to tackle about the RDF in Nyamira, so that my people can get cheap drugs as in other districts in the country. Training of doctors should be encouraged. I would like to assure the Ministry and other Kenyans that we are tackling the issue of emerging health facilities in the country in Vision 2030. Right now, many of the Permanent Secretaries are in the field to take views of Kenyans, so that they can be involved in the formulation of Vision 2030. We started with the provinces. We have now gone to the districts. You cannot have a national vision that Kenyans are not involved in its formulation. So, when we have known what Kenyans want, at that stage, we will launch the vision. For now, we have a mid-term to close the gap between the ERS and the vision. As you know, the ERS has succeeded, and that is a big credit to my predecessor, Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the funding of health facilities, I would like to say - on the money that we receive from our development partners - that most of the funds are managed on behalf of the Government. We need more transparency. Sometimes we do not know what kind of programmes they have. Even where we give them the programmes, we do not know about the accountability of those funds. So, the Government would like to be closely involved, so that those funds are used for the intended purposes to ensure that it reaches the people on the ground. After all, Kenyans are going to pay those funds in the final analysis, if they are not donations. On the Immunization Programme, which has moved on very well, I would like to commend the Minister. The announcement that there will be new refrigeration equipment to the tune of Kshs234 million will go a long way in tackling the issue of child mortality. I want to plead with Members of Parliament. The Minister said that there is no water in some of their hospitals, or the water systems in those hospitals have broken down. I want to plead with our colleagues that some of the water projects should go to the hospitals, so that we can tackle the problem of water supply to hospitals, because that is extremely important. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, about the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), I hope that as we travel this road, we will come together and have an insurance scheme for Kenyans. We are saying that health facilities should be affordable, or that what we offer to Kenyans should be affordable. Health services cannot be affordable unless we have an insurance scheme in place to take care of the concerns of many of the poor Kenyans. We have now moved from the 56 per cent mark of Kenyans living below the poverty line to the 46 per cent mark. Today, I announced that we are on the economic path to growth. From 6.1 per cent growth last year, we were, in the first quarter of this year, at 6.3 per cent economic growth. With those remarks, I beg to second."
}