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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the HIV/AIDS scourge has robbed this country of the human resource which is so expensive and irreplaceable. It targets mainly the young, energetic and intelligent middle aged people. It is so sad that we have lost so many people to this disease. The cost implications to this nation alone in terms of medical facilities and expenses both at the individual, family and national level, is so huge. If only we could change the approach to be more centred on prevention than cure, it will help to prevent many deaths. In this country, particularly in this Senate, I am sure, we have all suffered the consequences of HIV/AIDS, either directly or indirectly by losing a friend, a relative, a workmate or somebody known to us at a personal level. It is very painful. As I support this Motion, I urge the Mover to consider amending it at the right time to state that counties with huge populations like Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Kakamega be allocated more resources to allow them the benefits of establishing more centres within their counties. These are counties that deal with huge populations. In the same structure, we could also consider counties that are very vast though sparsely populated by allocating them more resources. If we allocate them the same resources as smaller counties with smaller populations, then this kind of approach will still not be effective because they are so vast. For example, nomadic communities need to have a tailor-made specific approach that allows the unit to move with the populations from place to place, targeting them for civic education, encouraging them to go for testing and to start early treatment. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, lastly, in the amendments that I am proposing, I encourage that we also have county specific research tailored towards the specific social- economic structures of the counties. This is because every county will end up with policies and structures that are more tailor-made to that specific county. Interestingly, as I listened to Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, I realized that we should consider the human resource laws and the lives that we lose through this pandemic. Of late, the Government has been thinking and acting outside the box because of the social ill of alcoholism. However, we lose a 100 times more through HIV/AIDS scourge. So, the Government should give it the same approach of thinking and acting out of the box with the urgency it deserves, commensurate with the budgetary allocation that it deserves. The Government should allocate more resources in terms of budgetary allocations to specifically target the counties that have suffered the most consequences of this social ill because of mitigation effects that they are dealing with which are 50 or 100 times higher than other counties. If we give it that approach of tackling it through the lenses of the number of people that die through this illness, then, we will save another generation which will take it from where we will leave. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, without belabouring many points and repeating myself, I urge the Mover to consider those amendments at the right time. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support. 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."
}