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"id": 6820,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/6820/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mututho",
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"speaker": {
"id": 97,
"legal_name": "John Michael Njenga Mututho",
"slug": "john-mututho"
},
"content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, talking of the cost, I want to say this - I am glad the Minister for Medical Services is here - that some of the things we are doing here, even God will have a lot of difficulties admitting us into Heaven. When you look at the budget outlay, forget about the 15 per cent as advocated elsewhere, you will find that it is too much. How much are we losing because of people who are sick? How much are we losing because of people who cannot think straight because of conditions that cannot be managed? Some of this equipment can be gotten at a quarter or ten per cent of the price, if we follow the principles they are using in the Western World, particularly in the United States of America (USA). I am talking about leasing of the equipment. Nobody anywhere else except in Kenya thinks of buying equipment like an x- ray machine, complicated surgical equipment available today, laser guided equipment and so forth, except in Kenya. Why do we not just behave as we need to do, go by the trend and lease all this equipment, so that when it is outdated, we can do away with it? This is so that we can have cancer treatment centres in all the major towns such as Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru, Meru, Mombasa and maybe two or three in Nairobi, so forth and so on; just use the money we have to lease equipment. Why do we want to misuse all our good money? First of all, on the cost of installing that equipment and so forth, there are companies which make their money through leasing and that is the way to go. They lease even stretchers and beds. That is the way to go where we have a limited budget. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, that way, clever operationalising of this situation will see us spend less, and be able to reach large numbers. The Constitution guarantees free health and treatment to all Kenyans. Again, we cannot shy away from that provision and the Government must brace itself to either have a huge budget on very sick Kenyans or have a very effective disease preventive policy that will allow fewer cancer cases as I have said; I have talked about lead, fuel, pollution and farmers who are growing vegetables in sewer lines and so forth and so on. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, going straight to the proposed Bill, I would persuade my friend, Dr. Monda, to look again at Clause 6 on the composition of the membership, to me, it looks like another Government body out there. It is not that we hate the Government, but at least, they also meet in their own places every Monday morning, depending on which Ministry, or every Tuesday. I would not want to really duplicate that. You should have a structure that has less bureaucracy and more action. The other provision, which I would really wish he looks into is Clause 8(3) which states: “No person shall be appointed under Subclause 2(a) unless such a person is a registered medical practitioner and an oncologist of not less than 10 years experience.” I am talking of the chairperson. By providing for the chairperson to be somebody of such long experience--- You will appreciate that that experience has been gained in Kenya at least, and we all agree that in Kenya, we have been doing a lot of bad things in the management of these cancer cases. I think we should emulate what the Ministry of Medical Services has done at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). Get a top notch manager, or somebody of substance, who can steer this body on policy, because there will be no time when the Board will have to discuss a case and require the expertise of a particular oncologist. So, I would persuade him to delete that provision at an appropriate time. In any case, that contradicts Clause 10. It is looks a bit liberal. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have taken too much time; although I have never suffered of cancer, I have seen my own brother die of cancer, which was caused by, among other things, alcohol. There are so many other laws that this Government has passed, including the anti-smoking law, noise laws, Mututho laws and others. I am asking the Government to, please, try and enforce those laws. Look at, for instance, the Public Health Act. We are supposed to have a board that controls food quality and so forth but it does not exist. So, if the Government can scan through its many statutes and enforce them, that will also go towards the management of cancer cases."
}