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{
    "id": 788644,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/788644/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Odege",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13459,
        "legal_name": "Tom Mboya Odege",
        "slug": "tom-mboya-odege"
    },
    "content": "Secondly, before we concentrate on treatment, how do we go about creating awareness so that we can avoid contacting cancer in our country? An example is my constituency. When you go to mining sites in my constituency, there is still wide use of mercury in the area. We have made a lot of noise but the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) is sleeping. I even talked to the NEMA people but they are not doing enough to help us eradicate mercury usage in our country, which means a good percentage of our people are still exposed to cancerous bacteria and the trend will still continue. We need some measures to be put in place so that as we talk about treatment or cure, we also concentrate on how we help our people not to contact cancer. This is because the numbers are in the increase. We have to see how we can curtail it. On stigma, we fought HIV/AIDS for the last 30 years because of stigma. People were stigmatised and they were not even ready to declare their status. Again on cancer, if we do not make people believe that cancer is curable, we will still lose people on stigma because they think if you are diagnosed with cancer you are dead. So, when you realise you have cancer you shy away and you do not come out publicly to be assisted. You hide and die in denial. We need to make some good structures in this country which will make the poor and the rich benefit equally. I am suggesting that before rolling out the cancer treatment up to the county level, can we first re-examine KNH and MTRH and we see if those two hospitals can be of benefit to our people. As we are talking today, the queue they have because of lack of professionals is killing our people without us realising that our people are dying because they are not being treated. You go to Eldoret you stay there for one month without seeing the doctor. You are dead and transported home for burial and nobody will talk about it. So, we need to ensure that we have enough facilities, professionals and people who can manage cancer. If not, then we allow the Indian professionals to come and invest in the country so that they treat our people. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I support the Motion."
}