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{
    "id": 818236,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/818236/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 35,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Garissa Township, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Aden Duale",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": "The Petition has to help us to amend the health laws before the House. It is not for KMA to regulate, KMA is a union. It will defend its members. I had an incident like Hon. Mbadi’s. I had a patient at Nairobi Hospital two years ago. When I was about to discharge that patient, five doctors who were coming to see my patient gave me a bill of about Kshs3 million. One of the doctors was just coming to greet my patient. He used to come in the morning. Funny enough, he knew the local language though he came from another part of Kenya. When I saw him having a bill of Kshs870,00, I walked into his office and asked him whether he was charging me for greeting the patient. He said he was standing in for another doctor. There is a difference. I had a similar patient at Aga Khan Hospital about two weeks ago. I am not campaigning for Aga Khan, but it is better than many hospitals. When I was discharging that patient on Thursday last week, there was no bill for a doctor. I asked why and they said doctors work for that institution. So, the Bill you pay is inclusive of the doctor’s service. In other hospitals, you pay every doctor who greets your patient. The bottom line is: Healthcare is expensive in Kenya. The poor Kenyans cannot access it. There is a major rip-off when it comes to insurance policies. The Departmental Committee on Health must translate this Petition into an amendment and a regulation on the fees that Kenyans are charged, for instance, in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Otherwise, somebody will take your patient to High Dependency Unit (HDU). When you visit doctors, there is a whole chain of marketers from pharmaceutical companies. Even the drugs doctors prescribe are not based on the patient. It is based on his relationship with pharmaceutical companies. This Petition is timely. The Committee should expedite it and bring relevant amendments to regulate how healthcare is run in our country."
}