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{
"id": 211613,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/211613/?format=api",
"text_counter": 206,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Muchiri",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Local Government",
"speaker": {
"id": 225,
"legal_name": "Muchiri Geoffrey Gachara",
"slug": "geoffrey-gachara"
},
"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to support this Motion. Right from the onset, I would like to underscore that health facilities, or health, generally, is a very important aspect in any society. I perceive health to be even more important than any other sector that we, perhaps, vote money for in this House. Fair enough, education is as important, but in my own mind, health is very important. I want to urge that the Ministry of Health, from now on, be treated as a very essential Ministry. I believe that if you are not in good health, you cannot go to school or work. You cannot even eat if you are not in good health. I, therefore, want to take this early opportunity to underscore the importance of health in this country. It is incumbent upon this Government, which I am part of, to ensure that in future enough money is voted to this Ministry because there is quite a bit in the Budget now. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I come from an area where health facilities are dotted here and there. To access a district hospital in my constituency, people have to go about more than 35 kilometres. I would like to add my voice to the suggestion made by hon. Betty Tett that there be mobile clinics. I would like to say that we should have visiting doctors. It will be a very good idea if a trained doctor would be able to visit several clinics in a week. Some of those dispensaries are being manned by nurses and clinical officers. If a fully trained doctor would visit some of these clinics, maybe, on a weekly basis, we would add value to the health services in the countryside. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I know that the Ministry is in charge of the Public Health Act. I am the Assistant Minister for Local Government, and I know that public health officers have relaxed too much. We want to make sure that our towns are clean. We want to make sure that the drainage systems, including trenches are clean. However, I think that Public Health Officers are relaxing. They are in slumber. I visited an upcoming township called Wanguru in Kirinyaga District. That township is so big and yet there is no order there in terms of drainage and so on. We would to ensure that refuse and water from the kitchen and toilet waste are directed to the right place. That is very important because if some of these things are not done or enforced, then we will not be dealing with preventive, but curative health care. I would like to underscore the provision of toilets in schools. This is one area that we have July 31, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2865 really forgotten. We need clean toilets in schools. Since I am from the Ministry of Local Government, I would like to urge that local authorities to provide toilets along the highways. I get a bit perplexed when I find people from a bus running to the bush to relieve themselves because there is no toilet nearby. It may sound very simple, but this is a very important attitude that we need to cultivate in our society. So, I would like to urge local authorities to start thinking about building toilets along the highways so that people are not inconvenienced wherever they pass through. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am glad that the attitude of nurses in our hospitals is changing. It used to be very bad to the extent that some of the staff were not serving the society, but that attitude is changing and it is an achievement for the Ministry. I hope that there will be that revival, that is, the nursing care, attitude and language should keep on changing so that our people can feel good. Anybody who is sick must be treated with a lot of care. I want to congratulate the Ministry for changing that kind of attitude. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to underscore the importance of specialised machines in our district hospitals. I come from Nyandarua North District where we use Ol Kalou District Hospital and Nyahururu District Hospital. However, our people keep on running to Kijabe Hospital or North Kinangop Private Hospital because certain machines are not available in Nyahururu or Ol Kalou. I noticed that the Ministry, this year, is providing Kshs1.1 million in each of our hospitals. That may not be enough. Our people go to Kijabe Hospital and North Kinangop Private Hospital because of lack of specialised machines in Nyahururu District Hospital and Ol Kalou District Hospital. If that was done, we would not have to spend a lot of money in some of these private hospitals, which are very expensive to our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, coming back home, we have Ndaragwa Health Centre. We would wish that it be upgraded to a sub-district hospital because we now have a maternity wing and through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), we are building a ward. That particular hospital can relieve Nyahururu District Hospital of the many patients that it has. Nyahururu District Hospital serves Ndaragwa, Ol Kalou and Laikipia West constituencies. If we could upgrade Ndaragwa Health Centre, we will be able to off-load the patients that go to Nyahururu District Hospital. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I support this particular Vote, I would like to thank those who have set up private hospitals, but they should not charge exorbitant fees. I think the Ministry has that responsibility to ensure that we have value for our money in the private hospitals. I know that they are coming up. For instance, we have Nyahururu Private Hospital and many others. They are doing a good job, but I do not want to see the private hospitals getting even more crowded because we do not have facilities in the Government hospitals. Whereas we supplement what the Government is doing, the whole question of good health and availability of facilities is not the preserve of the rich only. We, in Government, must now see the whole reason that if we improve the state of our hospitals, the poor will be able to access health facilities just like the rich who access them in private hospitals. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the whole question of bringing health facilities nearer to people is very important. The fact that we have built dispensaries and health centres using our CDF money, is even something that has created the need for more facilities. However, we want those particular dispensaries and health centres to be given personnel. For example, we have just completed building a maternity wing in a health centre called Shamata in my constituency. We now need to open it. Soon or later, I will be asking the Minister to visit that particular area so that she can open that particular health centre. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as much as we want administration and local government services to be nearer to the people, we would like also to see health services nearer to them. At least, each sub-location should have a well-manned dispensary. That is the minimum we 2866 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 31, 2007 should go for. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank the Ministry because there are drugs in our hospitals, clinics and health centres. This is because of the good management by the Ministry and the Government. This is something that should continue, so that our people can feel that they are in a different era where drugs are available in our health facilities. However, there are some drugs that some people in this country buy everyday. We need to make them cheaper for our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Government is now giving free HIV/AIDS drugs to our people. It is fairly cheap now because the Government is subsidising them. We must now go on and subsidise other drugs that are used regularly by our people. For example, there is need for us to subsidise diabetes and hypertension drugs. We do not want to hear that in a particular hospital there is no insulin. If there is no insulin in a hospital, patients will come to us to buy for them. I am glad that the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs said that those are some of the cases we receive in our constituency offices. They are cases regarding people who cannot access good facilities in hospitals and those requiring theatre services and the rest of it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, generally, we, as a country, have done well in this regard. However, there is still room for improvement. If we provide enough money to this Ministry, all will be well. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}