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{
    "id": 418347,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/418347/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 252,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "March 19, 2014 SENATE DEBATES 36 Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I rise to second this Motion by Sen. (Prof.) Lesan. It is directed to a particular department in Government known as Labour, Social Security and Services in which as you have seen, the Senate urges the national Government to develop a comprehensive policy for the aged. My colleague has talked about a problem that is encountered in old age called senile dementia. As a medical practitioner, he has defined what this problem is. Senile dementia comes from two terminologies; senile and dementia. I can define the two for the sake of the House as follows: Senile can refer to loss of physical abilities in old age, but it usually refers to decreased memory and mental faculties. Getting senile is a very serious condition. As an old person, you might have trouble even remembering who your children are. Dementia is defined as a mental illness that causes someone to be unable to think clearly or to understand what is real and what is not real. Therefore, the combination of the two words actually leads to a progressive abnormally accelerated deterioration of mental faculties and emotional stability in old age occurring especially in people who have a disease called Alzheimers . I am told that nobody knew what this type of disease was. It actually originated in 1906 after a doctor known as Alois Alzheimer. This is how it came into being. There is a doctor here called Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale and I hope he is listening. This was a German physician. He presented a case history before a medical meeting of a 51year old lady who suffered from a rare brain disorder and finally they named this disease after him. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as I continue presenting this history, I am told that in America after World War II in 1946 through to 1960, there came a time called the “baby boom” years. During that time, the fertility rate was so high and very many babies were born in the United States of America (US). Likewise, here in Kenya, those baby boomers are entering into retirement age. In the US, when they discovered that there were too many babies within that period, they decided to come up with birth control measures so as to control this trend. Here in Kenya, it is not unique because from history, if you are lucky, you must get old one day. We are lucky because God protects all of us. As many people as possible usually get lucky to reach old age. The only drama that we have which is not very good for us, as Kenyans and Africans, is that we have never had any policy at all that takes care of the aged. From the community where I come from, there was a song that was designed for young people; that one day they will get old and so they should not laugh and imagine that they will also not be old. Sometimes we think that we are going to remain flowery always. I am told that during the NARC regime, an idea was mooted that we should think of taking care of anybody who was 65 years and above. This is how this social welfare thing was started in Kenya to assist the people who were aged. The people who are aged have numerous problems that they undergo. One of them as was mentioned by the Mover is illness. This includes hearing loss, sight loss, memory loss and increased health problems. Another problem we have is with regard to income and economic welfare. This is where an elderly person is not able to go to the farm and they do not have a pension and social security. Loneliness is another problem. Women suffer most because the men die earlier. Men have a shorter life expectancy than women. They also suffer theft and robbery. We 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."
}