{"id":639946,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/639946/?format=json","text_counter":87,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. (Prof.) Nyikal","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":434,"legal_name":"James Nyikal","slug":"james-nyikal"},"content":"If you have cancer, you do not have to be in hospital all the time. You can be treated as an outpatient or go to a nearby place. That can only be done if you are near a facility that treats cancer. A lot of people travel out of this country to seek treatment. We discussed the matter of treatment abroad the other day. We are not sure whether it has been commercialised. There are people who have put up facilities, but they are not medical officers. They have sidelined doctors in the process of referral outside the country. From our data, the truth is that most of the people who go out of the country do not benefit. We should look at the cost that we forego as a country in all ways if we have to access treatment here."}