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    "id": 621687,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/621687/?format=api",
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    "content": "The beauty in this Bill is that the coordination aspect within all these issues will be handled by the committees. That is essentially what is missing in the structure. At least, we will now have a body that will give all this information and ensure that they have disseminated it. They should hold a lot of conferences and seminars and get people involved. They can even have an advance team of people who can go out into the community even as volunteers and hope that if they hear there is somebody with cancer, reach out to them and give them information and assistance that is necessary. This committee can also ensure that hospitals are equipped with medication that is acceptable and not the business of Panadol. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the worst thing about cancer patients is the pain and suffering they have to undergo before they die. Sometimes there is a delicate balance between keeping patients alive and reducing the pain. Sometimes, the more drugs are given to reduce pain, the less the time the patient will have to live. Cancer patients should have a choice to get the medication and the palliative care that is very important. All these programmes and strategies have to be incorporated by the county committees where two people are elected by the governor and the County Executive Committee (CEC) member for health depending on their level of education. However, that is not enough. Therefore, moving forward, it would be very important that this committee’s work is integrated completely within the county government. The county government must be very proactive. They must scrutinize the budget to see how much of it can go to these committees even as a secondary measure. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I like the part of this Bill that deals with the secretariat because that means that they will be enabled to do their work well and that their salaries will be regulated by the Salaries and Remunerations Commission (SRC). The technical aspect of this board will be handled by the secretariat. Clause 12(e) deals with the issue of vacancies which is straightforward. Clause 12(f) says the report will be submitted to the institute. This is a great idea. However, the annual report needs to be actionable. I would like to make an amendment so that the annual report is very specific because it allows for some action. At the end of the day, if you have this report, it will not catapult us to the next level where we are addressing key issues that are very essential. There is a lot of information that needs to go to that report so that it is clear that it is not just a report of status quo, but on improvement and a way forward and making things better. The question of cancer and its prevention as an effort towards curing the disease is very important. I hope that the implementation committee will pick up on this and ensure that it is implemented. On our own, we need to make a direct connection between the counties and explain what is going on so that by the time this Bill is passed, there is enough sensitization. I do not know what effort you have made in terms of reaching out to the public because this is very critical as this Bill is being discussed. Let us urge the media outlets to pick up on this. Let us also encourage the communities to be empowered enough to see this as life and death because that is what cancer is."
}