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{
"id": 211612,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/211612/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 166,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
"slug": "martha-karua"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise in support of this Motion. I want to begin by congratulating the Minister and her team for a job well done. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, looking back at the last four and half years, this Ministry has covered a lot of ground in terms of making health services accessible to Kenyans. At this moment, we know that every Kenyan can avail themselves malaria drugs, drugs for tuberculosis (TB), anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and now, maternity fees have been waived in health centres and dispensaries, which is the level that most people are able to reach health services. The availability of drugs and access to health services through the many dispensaries that have been taken over by this Ministry and built by Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) have July 31, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2863 all contributed to making health services more commendable. We need to appreciate the fact that, we are a country that has suffered from self neglect for many years. It is not possible to cover all the lost ground in four and half years. If we do remember that, then we will appreciate more the steps that this Ministry has been able to accomplish. I want to suggest to the Ministry to consider abolishing the many levies that are in district hospitals. We appreciate that in the dispensaries and health centres, people pay Kshs10 and Kshs20, respectively, which is not so much a bad thing to access health services. But in the district hospitals, there is a levy of Kshs50. Thereafter, when drugs are prescribed, according to how many types have been prescribed, one may end up having to pay another Kshs300. That is because for each drug prescribed, for instance, at the Kerugoya District Hospital, one has to pay Kshs100. Therefore, it means that if you have three types of drugs, you pay a total of Kshs300, and the Kshs50 before prescription. An amount of Kshs350 is a bar to access to many people. Since there are certain services not available at the dispensaries and health centres, that militates against access to health. I would request the technocrats at the Ministry to quickly calculate how much money, by way of Appropriations-In-Aid, is made by the Ministry through those levies. If you find that it is negligible, kindly recommend the abolishing of those levies except, maybe, the access fees, which should not be much. That way, people can avail themselves those services. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in my view, private hospitals have become very expensive because there is no universal access to health. If access is availed to every Kenyan, private hospitals will have no option but to bring their charges down. I also believe, like other Members who have contributed, that it is very vital that this Ministry, and my colleague the Minister, brings back the National Health Insurance Bill, so that we can discuss the Presidential Memorandum. That way, we can have a phased out implementation of that law. Otherwise, if we let this year go before parliament discusses it, we will be killing a very noble initiative of this Ministry. We appreciate the reasons that caused the Bill to be returned to the House. It is not the lobbying by big medical firms. Anybody who is saying that is just being sensational and relying on propaganda. We all know that it was the state of our economy which was found not to be strong enough to have the universal application at once. Now that our economy is picking up, it is possible for the Minister to recommend to the House a phased out implementation of that very good law. We could start with the clause that already compulsorily subscribes to national health insurance, and make it optional for other categories, or give a phased out implementation. That is one Bill that when it becomes law, will help every Kenyan to access health services. I know that it is not necessary to even harass anyone to pay for that. Once people see that they can get health services by paying a paltry sum of money, we know that most people will find it easier to save. When we go to our constituency offices, the bulk of the people we see, half of them have health problems and the other half lacks money for such small basic services like X-Rays and prescription drugs, when they are over Kshs1,000. We urgently need that Bill to come back to Parliament, Madam Minister, and we will give it all the support. We think that even the Treasury will be more supportive, now that our economy is picking up. I notice that the health budget has almost doubled, which truly indicates that the economy is not doing badly. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to draw the attention of the Minister and the Ministry to what happens in Cuba. I visited Cuba last year. Cuba, in my view, has the best universal health service where each cluster of 100,000 people has a doctor, several clinical officers and health nurses. The records of each person are maintained by that doctor from life to death. Cuba is one of the countries with the highest life expectancy of 87 years. Its life expectation is higher than that of America. It is a country with very many smokers because it produces cigars. Yet, they are able to have long life because of advanced health services. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with the amount of money that we are committing to 2864 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 31, 2007 health services, with increased efficiency in the use of our finances, we can equip our dispensaries and sub-district hospitals to the level that people do not have to troop all the way to Nairobi or Eldoret to referral hospitals for services that can availed at the constituency level. Cuba's health centres are called poly-clinics. Poly-clinics have every imaginable machines. They also have theatres. They emphasize more on preventive health services than curative. You use less money to buy equipment to help you in the preventive stage, more than the curative stage. I am inviting the Minister and the Ministry to consider having the necessary equipment to help our constituents with preventive health services, especially of the reproductive system. We know that many women are dying of cervical cancer and breast cancer where early screening could have helped them. Men are also afflicted by prostrate cancer, among others, and yet early screening and detection would help them to have a healthier and long life. We are asking that these facilities be provided at the district level. It may appear to be a lot of money, but in the long run, we will save money by emphasising on preventive rather than curative. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want, once again, to commend the Ministry and ask them to look into the issue of absorbing more of the trained health personnel, who are currently not on the job. I am sure they will be doing that because of the many health centres that they have taken over. I want to encourage them to continue, but to remember that we must complete the National Health Insurance Bill. We must discuss the Presidential Memorandum before the end of this Parliament. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to support."
}