GET /api/v0.1/hansard/entries/379219/?format=api
HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 379219,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/379219/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 207,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13119,
        "legal_name": "Agnes Zani",
        "slug": "agnes-zani"
    },
    "content": "many will resort to other ways of looking for a solution in terms of medical care. It is not just the rural poor. In fact, I think that every single Kenyan is a victim to the poor conditions in the medical field in terms of wrong decisions and medical and surgical errors. The level of expertise that can be given in some areas has not really been given adequately. I think that this also has been worsened by the cost sharing introduced through the 1980s Structural Adjustment Programmes. People need to pay for some of these services, but everybody is affected. Some of these problems have already been alluded to and discussed in details, poverty being one of them. But I think also, in all fairness, we need to be fair to the doctors and think of the proportions that they need to serve. We are talking about maybe statistics of one doctor to more than 1,000 people. We need the medical practioners to give us these figures, so that we can actually see the level of burden and strain that is put on them. It has already been alluded that most of these doctors and nurses are not just in public hospitals, but they will also move to private hospitals. Unfortunately, the level of care that you will receive from the same doctor when they are in private practice is different from the one that you will receive from him in a public setting. Also, for example, the level of equipment that is given during training and mass production of doctors right now is a real issue especially in the Kenyan educational system. Fortunately, in the Module II training, we have both doctors who are trained, but in a “blindfolded” way. So, all of them get the specific training that they are meant to get. But it is really worrying and you reach a point where you are not sure whether you should look for a professional who has been there for much longer, but needs also to be retracing their notes, so that everytime they are upgrading--- or a new one maybe who might not have been adequately trained, and then all these mistakes happen and things go wrong. Unfortunately, we have a looming strike coming soon after the teachers’ strike. We are really getting tired of this pattern where we are moving from one strike to another. This affects one of the three key pillars which Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo has alluded to in terms of the social sector and I think this gives a bit of information to all of us. So, it is important for us to try and address all these issues in a very comprehensive manner. There are two incidences, one on 12th May, 2013 where patients escaped from Mathari Hospital and then 9th February, 2013 where a woman lost both her husband and thereafter a son because of just waiting on the queue and this is really unfortunate. It is unfortunate that people can actually die on the queue before seeing a doctor. This is the last recourse. The right to life is so critical and all of us really fight to ensure that we keep our life especially when it is endangered. It is different when somebody can pay extra to be attended to somewhere else but for many, they are not able to do so. So, I think it is important for us to look at salaries and remuneration structures. We also have to address the issue of brain-drain. We should give more motivation for the staff to stay in the country and exercise their expertise."
}