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{
    "id": 607133,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/607133/?format=api",
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    "content": "will look at this document and interrogate it. I agree with Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., that there are a lot of details in this document. However, it is only when you have ample time that you can peruse through this document, analyse and critique it better. Therefore, the issue of time is very important. The National Treasury is still using the old technique where they try to make proposals and they think that those proposals must remain unchanged by ambushing the stakeholders. It is, therefore, very important that this document is submitted to the Senate in September. I fully agree that a specific date should be set in the Constitution, then these preparations will give every stakeholder time to contribute positively. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as concerns health, we realised that Kenya has been lagging behind in the Abuja Declaration where health is to receive about 15 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Until now, we are in the region of 8 percent of the GDP. I do not know about this year because the county allocations to the health sector are not easily detectable at the moment. It was just the national allocations that we were able to see in this Budget Policy Statement (BPS). Therefore, we would really like as a nation, to consider the fact that health is a very critical sector. It is only a healthy human being who can contribute to the development of this county. Therefore, the issue and the commitment that we made in Abuja of 15 percent of the GDP, we need to work towards that. I hope that we do not fall back. The other issue as concerns health is that we should concentrate more on preventive medicine. As the old adage goes; prevention is better than cure”. You will see that the national Government is rushing towards leasing of equipment. The Governors are rushing towards buying ambulances and building infrastructure. However, we know very well that if we invest, for example, in the antenatal care for pregnant mothers so that safe deliveries can happen for healthy babies to be delivered, that will go a long way in preventing a lot of mortality. We would like to congratulate the First Lady, for her ‘Beyond Zero Campaign’, which the country is warming up to. I hope that all of us will be there on the 8th of March to run with her. This is part of the prevention programme. On issues of immunization, we must really raise our levels of immunization in the counties. The Governors and the health executive committee members in the counties must really focus towards issues of prevention and increasing the level of immunization in their counties by ensuring that there are mobile outreach programmes. In fact, they should invest in vehicles that move around in the counties rather than wait for emergencies and blare up sirens. I am aware that leasing of ambulances is very expensive. It could even have been better if we invested in one or two vehicles that went round doing immunization while attending to emergencies as well. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we, as a nation; be it at national or county level, are not focusing on prevention which will bear more fruits than the curative approach that the country is taking now. Issues like community health workers are very critical because these people will go around, weigh kids and prevent malnutrition rather than running with nutrients to the counties that are malnourished. Simple issues that these community health workers could give in terms of creating awareness like washing of hands and digging of pit latrines will improve our health indicators, such that all these diseases that 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."
}