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{
    "id": 354838,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/354838/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 301,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Koinange",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1775,
        "legal_name": "Paul Koinange",
        "slug": "paul-koinange"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Speaker, Sir, I want to thank you for the diligent manner in which you have continued to handle the business of this House. I am very thankful to all the hon. Members. The spirit in this House reflects oneness. I believe that if we go on like this for the next three years, we will be able to achieve a lot. I pray that we go down the history of this country as the House that brought a big change to this nation. I want to thank all the hon. Members who have contributed to this Motion. If we support our people to get access to facilities of health and especially in the area of emergency treatment, we will move very far. Like one hon. Member said, any ailment of whatever nature is actually an emergency because nobody plans for that. The people who are most affected are the poor. This Motion calls for an urgent action to be taken to ensure that no Kenyan is denied emergency medical treatment for lack of money. Hon. Members have shown disappointment and they said that we should not be talking about medical care for this country 50 years after Independence. Allow me to emphasize that medical care costs money. Poverty is experienced by many people in the country, but that does not mean that our people should be denied health care. Hon. Speaker, Sir, I agree with hon. Members that we need to work towards a Bill that will ensure comprehensive treatment for all Kenyans. We need to place everyone under an insurance cover. There is a committee on health and we believe it will come up with a Bill that will cater for this particular issue. Social health insurance is the way, the world over, to cater for people who need this kind of facility. It, of course, needs sacrifice. The rich can subsidize for the poor. The single can subsidize for the married. The healthy can subsidize for the unhealthy. The young can subsidize for the old. The draft of Kenya Health Policy, 2012 – 2030 is very clear about availability of free treatment to our people when they visit health facilities. Since it is clear in the Constitution, we are not doing a favour to our people; rather it is their right to have this service. I know this idea calls for pooling of resources in order to manage financial requirements of providing quality health care. This can only be done in-house by the committee in charge of health. The committee should draw a Bill that will cater for this. However, in the meantime, there are things which should be done urgently in order to help our people, given their inability to pay for their medical bills. Some of them are transportation to hospitals."
}