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"id": 6804,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/6804/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mudavadi",
"speaker_title": "The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government",
"speaker": {
"id": 84,
"legal_name": "Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi",
"slug": "musalia-mudavadi"
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will make some very brief remarks. First of all, I want to congratulate the mover of this Bill, Dr. Monda. This is a very important Bill for this country. In fact, the reality is that it is long overdue. Nevertheless, the fact that it is now before us, I think it deserves our support. In fact, it is also a surprise that when there is such an important Bill, there is very little attendance in Parliament. Be that as it may, I think let us move ahead and support the Bill. One of the first things I really want to draw the Member to is that, indeed, the issue that has been raised by the Chair is very important. By creating this entity which becomes a public authority, there is no way you can envisage a situation where public resources will not be made available. Therefore, I would strongly support the position taken by the Chair that the Memorandum and Objects should require an amendment at the Committee Stage. It is clear that public resources will be necessary to deal with this particular problem. The Mover has given very elaborate statistics of the number of deaths that are recorded. He gave a figure of 18,000 deaths and those, in my view, are the ones they are able to record as having cancer as the cause. However, there is no clear indication of those who die of the same kind of ailment but are not noticed or diagnosed. So, clearly, the question of registry is going to be extremely important. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also like to quickly highlight the fact that cancer is a very silent and expensive disease. Most of us, Members of Parliament, are usually engaged, every now and then, either directly or indirectly, to fundraisings for medical treatment either locally or externally. It is very difficult to cope with the kind of requests that we all get. I would strongly support this so that the Government or the Kenyan people can be able to support cancer treatment, not just from their personal or charitable donations but also clearly from the public coffers. The Government has done very well in campaigning against HIV/AIDS and even making outlays to deal with HIV/AIDS in this country. That is important but this particular disease has largely been ignored. The equipment that is available nationwide is very limited. The professionals that have been trained to handle this particular disease are literally a drop in the ocean when we talk of the disease. I am strongly advocating for clarity during the Committee Stage on the issue of making sure that there is proper public participation. I do not think we should shy away from proposing amendments to this Bill in that regard. The financial outlay may not necessarily be instant but it could be gradual. It has to be built up systematically. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other thing I would strongly recommend as a safeguard is to also ensure that this institute or centre; The Cancer Prevention and Control Institute (CPCI) at the end of the day, does not become top heavy in terms of remuneration or in terms of running costs. The actual bulk of the resources, in my view, should be crafted in this law so that whatever is being put forward, the bulk of it goes into the actual treatment, prevention and dissemination of information to the people. There is also the tendency that once you create the institutions, some of these institutions then become the guzzlers of resources and the real beneficiaries do not benefit. I would also want to recommend, in support of this Bill, that the issue of duty should become very clear because you have a lot of equipment that may not be available locally. Although I know most medical equipment do not necessarily have duty on them, it would be useful to clarify so that, for example, if you are bringing in mammography vans which would be mobile units that can be used to help in detection and diagnosis of cancer, let it be very clear from the outset that such vehicles or equipment would benefit from duty free arrangement. This is because it can be very expensive to get this equipment if a lot of duty was charged on it. I think that would definitely go a long way in assisting. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also like to recommend that at the Committee Stage, the Member can clean up the Bill. In some areas, we still refer a lot to the local authorities. If you look at Clause 20, you talk of, “by the Government and local authorities”. Bearing in mind that we are going to move to the county governments, I think it would be good to refine the definitions in there so that they are consistent with the new arrangements. Local authorities as they exist may not be the same again but there will be entities of county governments. So you may want to clean up some aspects of the Bill in that regard. I also want to commend the hon. Member because when you look at issues of discrimination, it is so important that this has come out because I have had occasion to talk to ladies, in particular. I was somewhere where there was a testimony of a lady who had suffered from breast cancer. She talked of how she was stigmatized by her community. The husband was asking her: “Where on earth did you get this particular problem?” This was to the extent that she was being shunned and pushed away and made to look like some kind of outcast or witch within the community. That can be very punishing because as you deal with this, you are dealing with somebody’s psychology, the communities’ psychology and the families and so on. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also need to encourage people to go for regular check-ups. Most of the cases are usually diagnosed when it is too late, when somebody has really tipped and is on the wrong side of the fence, if I may put it that way. If cancer is detected early, it can be managed. However, most people tend to delay and shun away from being tested just the way it is in the early stages of HIV/AIDS when people shun away from being tested until they realise that it is too late and doctors cannot help their situation. Some of it is out of fear, some of it is due to ignorance and some of it is just the sheer cost. I want to commend the honourable Member for coming up with this Bill. He deserves a lot of support. It is spreading out the need to have treatment centres throughout the counties. With this law being in place, it will, definitely, force both the county governments and the national Government to set aside funds in order to specialize in handling this very expensive disease. The Kenya Airways flight that goes to India is normally called the “Bombay Ambulance.” I got this from the Kenya Airways officials. The flight that goes to India is called “the Bombay Ambulance” because by and large, it is always carrying or ferrying passengers who are going out there for medical treatment. Cancer is one of those treatments that are taking many people there. So, you can imagine the resources that are being spent because as you said, the queues at the Kenyatta National Hospital and other areas take too long. Someone can be on the waiting list for several months when they are supposed to get their chemotherapy or radiology. That wait could be very fatal. So, I believe that hon. Daktari is on the right footing and this Bill deserves all the support that this House can grant it and, indeed, positive amendments that can ensure and guarantee that it is not just another Bill that will be there but be ignored. It must be a Bill that will show and attract resources, both domestic resources and, indeed, resources from the international community. There are many foundations that would like to support this, like the Bill Gates Foundation and others. They would also like to focus on areas like this. If we can tighten and show a strong initiative from the Kenyan perspective by endorsing a Bill of this nature, then we would also be sending a signal that we are ready to work on this. The other thing I would like to suggest, that may be considered in this Bill is something that deals with the technical staff because this is a specialized area. You have seen sometimes when there is an emergency, like what we get in terms of fires like the Sinai problem and others, the bureaucracy involved between being able to source some external expertise for specialized areas and the bureaucracy of our own medical institute or association or, perhaps, medical Ministry may be useful to consider some clauses that would allow fast tracking of a situation where there may be need for expertise in the treatment of cancer so that it is not a protracted process before you can get that expertise on board. This institute can be the right place to facilitate a situation where these experts are brought in to complement the very few we are talking about. Whereas we will be training ours, we know how expensive it is and how long it takes to train a doctor. However, if we have four specialists in oncology, clearly, we will have a problem and we will need some support, sometimes, externally. This is something that you might want to build in this piece of legislation to facilitate that. I am sure that by the time we get to the Committee Stage, you, your Committee and your legal advisers on the matter can think about some clauses that can enrich that area. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}