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{
    "id": 596691,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/596691/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 84,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. A. B. Duale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I beg to contribute to the Health Bill, 2015 as the Member for Garissa Township. The purpose of this Bill is to provide a mechanism on how the national health policy shall be formulated, implemented and coordinated between the two levels of Government. More significantly, this Bill deals with areas of coordination and how technology can positively contribute to better management of health services while curbing negative development. The aim of this Bill is to establish national health systems whose main purpose will be to afford an enabling environment to progressively realise the right to the highest attainable standard of health to citizens. This includes the right to healthcare services within the framework of reproductive health. This Bill aims to recognise the role of the statutory health regulatory bodies, but it distinguishes between regulatory bodies and bodies which have policy functions at the national Government level. Clause 7 of the Bill gives effect to the right to emergency medical treatment. The clause makes it an offence for any medical institution or healthcare provider to deny any person emergency medical treatment when it has the capacity to do so. You remember the story of Alex Madaga, a young Kenyan who had an accident and was taken to five hospitals, which all denied him emergency medical treatment because they valued money. The hospitals pegged emergency medical treatment to payment of money. So, this Bill sets the stage right. The clause says the right to emergency medical treatment is the right of every person in this country, only subject to capacity. I am sure that when we get to the Committee of the whole House, we will remove the condition of “subject to capacity”. As we progressively move towards making sure that citizens enjoy universal healthcare through the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), I think the right to emergency medical treatment is a right to every citizen. Clause 8 of the Bill makes it mandatory for every healthcare provider to inform the user or, where the user of the information is a minor or incapacitated, inform the guardian other things including the user’s health status except in circumstances where there is substantial evidence that the disclosure of the user’s health status could be contrary to the best interest of the user. The clause deals with how far one can go in making full disclosure of a patient’s health status. It will no longer be at the discretion of medical doctors. Let us look at Clauses 16 and 17 of this Bill. This Bill creates directorates within the Ministry of Health, which are to be led by a Director-General and who is the technical adviser to the Cabinet Secretary (CS) on all matters relating to health. The Director-General will be 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."
}