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{
    "id": 392418,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/392418/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 240,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Kuti",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 60,
        "legal_name": "Mohammed Abdi Kuti",
        "slug": "mohammed-kuti"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I would like to start by thanking all the Members who were able to get an opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion about the findings of our health facilities, especially Levels 3, 4 and 5 hospitals in Rift Valley, especially in the north Rift. I would also like to thank the Committee on Health, Labour and Social Welfare, which I chair, for being able to visit this area as a sample and bring out this report; for being able to take time off their busy schedules to be present there and for coming up with this report. I am also grateful to the secretariat who accompanied us and to the Senate administration for facilitating us. Madam Temporary Speaker, this tour is an indicator of the scenario of our health institutions across the country. A lot of the Members who contributed felt very strongly that the Committee should have had more samples. In fact, if possible, do a country wide tour. That is actually our programme. I would like to announce that immediately after the Kenya Women Parliamentarians (KEWOPA) Seminar in Kwale, my Committee will be in the Coast to tour counties so that we also can compare these facilities in other regions. After that, we intend to go to the counties in the former North Eastern Province and counties in Central, Upper Eastern and come up with a more comprehensive report, so that we can actually come up with a Bill that will then inform how we wish our health facilities to be run, what kind of improvements need to be added, the areas that we need to strengthen and all this. This is our plan. I would like to thank all those who felt that this should have had a wider catchment in order to bring out more broad results. Madam Temporary Speaker, many Senators spoke about women’s health in various ways, one of which is the distance that mothers have to cover to reach the health centres. In fact, I would like to congratulate the Kenya Government right from the beginning although there are a lot of challenges. One very important thing that we have to recognize is that we have the infrastructure in almost every sub-location. There is a dispensary and a health centre in most locations. There are district hospitals in most districts, other than the new districts that were created in the last days of the Grand Coalition Government. We also have the provincial hospitals or referral hospitals in well established counties. Even in the most remote areas like north eastern, health centres and dispensaries still play a very key role. As I said, there is infrastructure in place. The main problem is the staffing because we have lost a number of our doctors who have gone to work outside this country. We must recognize the fact that it is only 40 per cent of doctors trained in The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}