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    "id": 621657,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/621657/?format=api",
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    "content": "Prevention and control is important because this Bill takes it back to where people live; in the counties. One important thing about this Bill is that it requires that we deal with issues of health from where people live. The government’s health responsibility should not be in form but in content. I also refer to a provision in the Bill that deals with the control committees. Clause 12C (2a) states that:- “The county cancer prevention and control committees:- (a) Shall be under the control and direction of the county governor in the implementation of their functions in accordance with the policies of the national Government and collaborate with the institute in the carrying out of its functions under sub-section 1.” Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the institute here refers to the cancer institute which is a national body. We hope it will have its branches in the counties. The committee that is established is more of a co-ordination committee that ensures that the county governments perform their functions properly. The County Governments Act specifies what the executive responsibilities the governor has. In this case, it is said that this committee will be under the control and direction of the county governor in the implementation of their functions. I know for certain and those of us who are in critical Senate Committees know that the governors are overwhelmed with responsibilities. Talking of “control and direction”; it should not mean micro-managing cancer. Cancer requires a lot of professionalism and a governor who is not trained as a professional may not necessarily know what it takes to handle cancer patients who need palliative care. That is a special branch of treatment. Such a non-professional will not know the kind of nutrition that is needed to strengthen the body in prevention of cancer. I would like to interpret this particular clause sparingly; that control and direction does not mean micro-managing but it means giving broad policy guidelines and concerns for this committee. For instance, I envisage a situation where in our counties, we are going to have bureaus of statistics collecting specific statistics relevant to the counties. We have a National Statistics Authority which deals with nationwide macro statistics. I propose to the Committee on Health, especially when we have the Prevention and Control Committees; that the responsibility of gathering micro data at the village level is taken seriously. In Cuba, there are polyclinics in every village. Polyclinics are an equivalent of our health centres because each polyclinic has little clinics under it, scattered around one particular village or local parish. In each polyclinic, there is data about every resident of that parish regarding their health status. If you go to a polyclinic, you will find a chart telling you exactly how many people smoke, how many people are obese and how many people have problems of eating in a particular parish, because there are people who have problems of eating and they can never stop eating. They have health statistics to detail of residents of a particular parish. These health statistics are necessary because by getting them, you can more or less predict – if you are medical practitioners – how many people in a parish are predisposed to getting cancer as they get older. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}