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{
"id": 247794,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/247794/?format=api",
"text_counter": 190,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mrs. Ngilu",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Health",
"speaker": {
"id": 111,
"legal_name": "Charity Kaluki Ngilu",
"slug": "charity-ngilu"
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"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill be now read a Second Time. The HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill was first published in the year 2003, but has not been debated since that time. I am happy that it has now been put on the Order Paper, and we are debating it. It is now 22 years since the first case of HIV/AIDS was diagnosed in this country. This disease has continued to spread in the country, causing much suffering and breakdown in our socio-economic status. To date, over 1.5 million Kenyans have died due to HIV/AIDS and other related diseases. Over 1.2 million adults and 100,000 children are living with the disease. This epidemic has now become a development problem, and is a major concern to the Government. The Government has taken the fight against HIV/AIDS with the seriousness that it deserves. In November, 1999, the Government declared HIV/AIDS a national disaster, and, subsequently, the National Aids Control Council was established to co-ordinate a multi-sectoral national response to the epidemic. In March, 2003, after the NARC Government came to power, the Government intensified the national response to the epidemic and declared total war against the disease at the community level and at all other levels in the country. these efforts are now bearing fruit. The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate declined from 13 per cent in the year 2000 to 6.1 per cent in the year 2004. Today, we have 72,000 people living with HIV/AIDS who are on treatment. When the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the Three by Five Initiative in December, 2003, we had only 2,000 people on treatment. Since then, this effort has been scaled up, and we have been able to put 72,000 people on treatment out of the 220,000 people eligible for treatment. Our target at the end of this year is to have 140,000 people on treatment. Among those on treatment are about 5,000 children. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a new Kenya National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan, 2009/2010 has been developed through a highly participatory approach that is designed to bring down the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate to 5.5 per cent by the year 2010. This has been possible because of the measures that we have taken as a Government, by increasing the number of the voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) sites from 35 in the year 2003 to close to 665 throughout the country. We have also increased the number of PMCT treatment sites. We have increased drugs that are available in the market. This has been possible with the support of some international organisations like the President Bush Fund that has assisted in treatment and purchase of drugs. It has supported us also in the employment of more health workers. Indeed, it is good news for Kenyans once again to learn that they can be treated for free. Initially, treatment of HIV/AIDS was inaccessible by many people; June 8, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1247 many people were not able to afford it. Initially it cost US$1000 per month. The cost then came down to US$500 per month by early this year. Now, treatment is available for free. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, over the past two decades experience has shown that there is need for a regulatory legal framework to guide the national response to HIV/AIDS. As a result of this experience, the Government established a task force in 2002, on legal issues related to HIV/AIDS. This effort culminated in the preparation of the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Bill, 2003. This Bill was then republished and I hope we will pass it. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the purpose of this Bill is to provide measures for prevention, management and control of HIV/AIDS, provide for protection and promotion of public health, provide for appropriate treatment, counselling support and care for people infected with HIV/AIDS, or at the risk of HIV/AIDS infection and for connected purposes. The Bill contains, first and foremost, measures for prevention, management and control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Such measures include education and information to the general public, institutions of learning, work places and health care service institutions. Secondly, the Bill establishes safe practices and procedures and at the same time, provides guidelines on testing and screening for HIV/AIDS and access to health care services. Thirdly, the Bill provides guidelines on confidentiality which is a major issue in HIV/AIDS prevention and control as well as human rights. Related to this, the Bill underscores the need to eliminate discrimination and stigma in the society in order to make progress in the fight against this epidemic. At the same time, the Bill legislates against transmission of HIV to others knowingly. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, fourthly, the Bill establishes an HIV/AIDS tribunal to hear and determine complaints arising out of any breach of provisions of this Act. You realise that the measures that this Bill intends to put in place will protect people who knowingly or unknowingly engage in sexual behaviour with people who are aware of their HIV positive status. This Bill is going to protect and care for people infected with HIV/AIDS. This Bill takes cognisance of all Kenyans. We are aware of the number of people who have contracted this disease from their own spouses. Even before we put this law in place, we are encouraging every Kenya--- I would wish to challenge hon. Members of Parliament to be the first ones to be tested. They should show the way to others. That is the only way we will encourage people to come forward to be tested otherwise we will not be able to reduce effectively the number of HIV/AIDS cases that we are seeing today. With the increased resources that we have gotten in the Ministry of Health this is now possible. I hope that hon. Members of Parliament can make use of the resources that have been made available by the Government through their constituency HIV/AIDS committees to ensure that their people get totally involved in the HIV/AIDS work. Each one of us has been affected in one way or another. Top on the list of those people who are mostly affected and infected by HIV/AIDS are women. These are the people who look after their sick, either their children or husbands. In fact, some children do not go to school because they have to look after their sick relatives. Therefore, this is a very important Bill and I hope every hon. Member of Parliament will support it. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with the help of the Departmental Committee on Health, Labour and Social Welfare we spotted a few contentious issues that were contested. I am happy to report that with all the stakeholders coming together issues in this Bill have been ironed out. They have proposed amendments to this Bill and which will be brought to this House. The stakeholders comprised of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of State for Special Programmes, Office of the Vice- President and Ministry of Home Affairs, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), civil societies, faith-based organisations, development partners, people living with HIV/AIDS, the private sector and so on. All these stakeholders are interested in ensuring that this Bill passes without problems. They took time to go through the Bill and came up with amendments. 1248 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 8, 2006 Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to ask hon. Members to understand that HIV/AIDS truly has the face of women. I say so because it is women who are mostly affected. It is about young girls and their mothers looking after the sick. It is them who cook and take care of the sick in hospitals. I hope that hon. Members will pass this Bill with the amendments that have been proposed. I would also like to encourage hon. Members of Parliament to start talking openly and without fear about the causes of death. I have hardly heard anybody who is aware of the cause of death of a person say that the person died due to HIV/AIDS related complications. In this Bill, I argued a little bit in the morning with our officers in the Ministry of Health that we should make it mandatory that any young people wishing to get married be tested first before starting family life. However, I am told that that will cause problems. In my view, it is the only way. This has been done in other countries and I truly believe that it should be done here too. This Bill also addresses issues on research in HIV/AIDS, including biomedical research. Finally, since 2003 when this Bill was first published, major changes have taken place in the fight against HIV/AIDS, both locally and internationally. This has necessitated amendments to be brought to the original Bill. The Government has worked closely with all stakeholders including the Departmental Committee on Health, Housing, Labour and Social Welfare. In this regard, in addition to introducing the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Bill, I am also going to table the amendments that they have proposed so that hon. Members can also see what they came up with. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to thank all those people who have worked tirelessly in support of this Bill. I now want to ask hon. Members to support and pass this Bill as presented. With those remarks, I beg to move and ask Mr. Wetangula to second this Bill."
}