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"id": 594391,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Ababu",
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"speaker": {
"id": 108,
"legal_name": "Ababu Tawfiq Pius Namwamba",
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"content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. First of all, let me congratulate my very eminent brother and learned friend, Hon. Agostinho Neto for initiating this very important piece of legislation. We have always said that the practice of medicine, just like the practice of law, is equated to priesthood. It is a calling. It is a service that goes beyond mere pursuit of a livelihood. At the very heart of the practice of medicine is records, information and paper trail, because this is then what enables the whole management of ailments and appropriate response to be achieved as should be. This area of health records and management of information is one that is extremely weak. Anybody who has interacted with the health sector and health institutions will admit that this, indeed, is one extremely weak area. You go to some of our health institutions, if not all, and you are depressed at the manner in which records and information are generally managed. It is not rare to run into scenarios where, because of poor record management and information keeping, you find information has been lost. It is even doubtful as to the professional competence of the personnel that ordinarily are responsible for this key responsibility in the chain of medical care. So, we need a law that will then make provision for training, registration and licensing of health records and information managers, regulate their practice and provide for some kind of institutional set-up. Therefore, to have a law that will make provision for training, registration and licensing of health records and information managers; to provide for some kind of institutional set-up that will then guarantee all that is absolutely important. It is for that reason that I fully support this Bill. This is the kind of legislation that this House should ordinarily be paying very serious and keen attention to. This is a House of debate and law-making. Law is even more important if it responds to real needs and challenges such as this. I hope that we will hasten the enactment of this Bill. Upon enactment, this Bill should swiftly be put to work, so that we can experience its full effect. I say this, especially taking due cognisance of the challenges being experienced in the health sector after devolution of health services. This is a matter that, perhaps, requires a very serious national debate. There is no better place to initiate, or to consider, this debate than in this hallowed Chamber. The health sector is ailing badly. Whereas some of us are certainly strong proponents and enthusiasts of devolution, we must admit, nonetheless, that the hasty devolution of health services has brought to the fore serious challenges. It is an area which, in my view, has not received sufficient attention, from both the county and national governments. Let me use this opportunity to challenge both the county and national governments, through the intergovernmental co-ordination mechanism, to prioritise discussion of the state of healthcare in this country, and put in place sufficient and expeditious mechanisms to respond to serious challenges that are bedevilling the health sector today. There are so many incidents happening all over the place. A few months ago, the nation was shocked by an incident that happened in my home country of Busia, where not less than 22 children were put at serious risk because of a horrifying aberration that masqueraded as medical attention. The children had to be swiftly transferred to Nairobi for specialised medical care. This kind of thing is happening in a lot of places. May we challenge the national and county governments to find a way to respond to this matter. I believe that legislation such as this can The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}