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{
    "id": 813229,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/813229/?format=api",
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    "content": "condemned and are locked for some time. Therefore, the thought of having mental health facilities in our counties is a great idea. That is why I thank the two Senators. Health being a devolved function, it needs to be encouraged and supported by all our counties. County governments must have these facilities. Their health facilities cannot be complete if they only treat normal patients while some mental health patients cannot access medication. Therefore, our county governments should have a budget that is sensitive to matters of mental health and a human resource that can handle mental cases. We need to have a training facility for mental expertise and a health facility that is equipped with drugs to treat these kinds of disorders. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, our counties must not only have these facilities, they must also have a database of these kinds of patients so that we know where they are and how they can be treated for free. Our counties should also have guidance and counseling sections for the guardians of these patients. This is because many times, some of these families are not able to handle these kinds of patients. Some of these patients are docile while others are even dangerous because of the kind of exposure they get in the community they live in. Therefore, people with these kinds of patients as well as the patients should be given guidance and counseling services within our health centres. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we need to build the capacity of the medical staff who handle these kinds of patients. We do not need to have a specialized unit for them only. Everyone who is doing medicine in this country should be trained on how to handle mental health patients. Therefore, we call upon county governments to have a budget for this and to also look for funding from development partners. Many of our counties may not be able to put up all these facilities at the same time, but they can partner with the private sector and other international organizations so that they can have this infrastructure in place. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, they also need to benchmark. Every other time, I hear that Members of County Assembly (MCAs) and County Executive Committee (CECs) Members have gone out to benchmark on different kinds of studies. This is an area of study that we need to take seriously. We need to benchmark in other developed countries to see how they normally treat these kinds of patients. Additionally, we need to have centers that can detect and treat these kinds of illnesses. Finally, Mr. Temporary Speaker, it is high time our counties mainstreamed all types of health conditions into their budgets. This will ensure that we have health facilities that will cater for nutrition, mental, maternal health and also for medication. We need to equip these facilities fully so that we can enjoy being citizens of this country. We should reduce the cost of treating these patients, including avoiding the cost of travelling with them to Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital in Nairobi just because we cannot afford such kinds of facilities in our counties. Therefore, I urge my two colleagues to look into the possibility of coming up with a Bill on this issue. We can even go further and come up with a caucus to look into this very important issue. This is an important Motion and because we already have devolution, we must rally our counties to implement the recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}