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{
    "id": 904832,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/904832/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 364,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in order to protect the person with mental illnesses, Clause 17 of the Bill seeks to amend Section 10 of the Mental Health Act to ensure that a person who voluntarily checks themselves into a mental health facility is reviewed within 72 hours of their voluntary admission. You will be surprised when you hear the stories that come from the public; of how you can find yourself detained for a very long time in a hospital just because you have walked in to seek help. It is very interesting when you hear such things and wonder how that came to be. So, the Bill here has to give that kind prescription. Clause 22 of the Bill seeks to safeguard the rights of persons who are involuntarily admitted into a mental health facility by setting out conditions for involuntary admission. Involuntary admission does happen and it depends on the status of the mentally ill person at the time they are admitted. However, this issue has been abused severally according to the stories from survivors. There are people who have actually been locked up in a mental health facility, not because they are mentally ill, but because somebody has a vendetta against them. This Bill will take care of such issues and also safeguard the rights of those who are actually mentally unwell. Clause 32 of the Bill seeks to provide a framework for review of persons with mental illness. It provides for the process of appeal should a person with mental illness be dissatisfied with the findings resulting from the review from the practitioners. At least there is recourse; the buck does not just stop with one practitioner. There is somewhere somebody can appeal if they have an issue with their treatment. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Clause 33 seeks to ensure that a person with mental illness is provided with specialized and personalized after-care services. The after-care service is something which must be done. Coincidentally, I do not know at what point the rain started beating us, as Kenyans, that even what we had as a framework and infrastructure for our hospitals disintegrated. We have stories of our patients having a dispensary right at their doorstep, where they could pick medication. What other countries have done is that within that infrastructure, they have set up psychosocial support. We are not suggesting that you go and build a whole new mental health facility, but expand whatever services are there. When you have the dispensary right next to your door and expand that service, then you can begin to see how easy it is to give after-care services. Every dispensary will have a practitioner of mental health, who can deal with a certain size of population around him. These things are actually very possible. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}