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"speaker_name": "Mr. ole Ntimama",
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"legal_name": "William Ronkorua ole Ntimama",
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"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Bill before the House now. First of all, I want to thank the Mover of this Bill, Dr. Ojiambo. This is a very important Bill. It is a very well thought idea to bring this Bill to this House in order to get it enacted into law and also to provide a legal framework for the nutritionists and dieticians in this country. I would also like to thank every other institute, department and all professionals who have helped Dr. Ojiambo to put together and bring this Bill to this House. These are some of the ideas that we need in this country. There is a lot politicking and shouting inside and outside this House. But I think an idea like this, which is absolutely original, to bring this Nutritionists and Dieticians Bill, is very important indeed. We are told that the kind of food we eat is very important to our bodies. That food must include several ingredients like vitamins, starch, proteins and others. Those are the things that give the body strength to be able to resist some diseases. We are also told that the most important medicine is the ability of one's body to fight diseases. If your body is weak and you have been eating nothing, but junk food, even a common cold could send you to the grave. If you eat good food your body can resist the effects of even the HIV/AIDS virus. You can live with the virus for many years. The virus will not be able to attack you seriously. So, eating good food is medicine that is very important to everybody. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not think the nutritionists in this country have an organisation for themselves to be able to project their profession or put it into a legal framework, in such a way they can really be called professionals. Therefore, I think this Bill is very important. I hope the Ministry of Health will recognise this profession and give it support, so that these November 23, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3929 professionals can go out of their offices and meet people in the villages. The other important people in a developing world, although we are not talking about them right now, are those roving doctors with big bags. In India and many other asian countries, doctors are on the move. They visit people in the villages and treat them right on the ground. The situation is different here because our doctors wait for the patients in urban centres and cities. These nutritionists could do a lot of good work if they visited the villages and talked to women and children. They would organise them into groups and tell them what proteins, vitamins and carbohydrates do to their bodies and those of their children. That would be a very good and important service. Therefore, we should pass this Bill and enact it immediately, so that we can give these professionals the opportunity to go out there and help the people of this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not know whether the Ministry of Education is really organised in such a way that it would employ dieticians and nutritionists in every school, so that they can advise the management of the schools as to what food they should buy and how to cook it. This would ensure good health for our children. An unhealthy body generates unhealthy mind. We should have a nutritionist in every school and hospital. As Dr. Ojiambo said, the effects of some diseases can be reduced by giving the patient good diet. We have many children's homes in this country which I do not think are very well organised. They do not give children good food that will protect them from diseases and make them grow healthy. The nutritionists and dieticians are the people who should be employed in such homes, so that they can advise the management on what kind of food to give the children. It is also important that we integrate the nutritionists and dieticians with the herbalists. This is because there are so many things in the forest, the herbalists know about. I do not know what kind of research has been going on, on this. But I understand that there is a lot of research in our universities on what the herbalists are doing. If we integrated them with the nutritionists, we could definitely develop a system where we could give very good advice to the doctors as to what kind of food they should give to their patients. I say this because there are many people who talk about herbs, soup and many other things. Although there is a bit of research going on, more should be done to integrate it with the food that is being eaten. Apart from the nutritionists going out with the big bags to advise people on how to eat healthy foods, we have got a lot of good food around the countryside which we are not utilising. For example, we have cassavas, sweet potatoes and other roots. I think the Ministry of Agriculture, along with the nutritionists, should go out and advise people on what foods have the required nutritients. This will ensure that we bring up a very healthy society using the simple crops that we grow. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our people should be fed on simple food that they grow in our villages such as sweet potatoes and beans. It is not only meat which is essential in our diet but also beans. If you cannot afford meat, you can eat some beans. So, I want to support this Bill and urge this House to pass it, so that we have that group of professionals. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}