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{
    "id": 907183,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/907183/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 721,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kwamboka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 9246,
        "legal_name": "Beatrice Kwamboka Makori",
        "slug": "beatrice-kwamboka-makori"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important and unique Motion. I thank Sen. Shiyonga for coming up with it. People talk about Tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDs but they forget about Sickle Cell Disease. Madam Temporary Speaker, I had a patient who was admitted in Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) but she succumbed. This disease is unique because it drains the blood completely. People who do not understand this disease might think that it is something like witchcraft. This is a major contributor of poverty. Madam Temporary Speaker, we did all the fundraisers to help this girl. The family ended up selling their land. However, unfortunately, God knows why He took her. Depending on the history of parents, children should be tested at birth. It is good to prevent this disease and visit health centres which should be in the ward level where everyone can access them. This disease is very expensive to manage. Its services are found in private hospitals and not in the public ones. People spend a lot of money. Some of them cannot afford transport to come to the KNH. Imagine somebody coming from Kisii just like Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri has said. It is expensive and it affects everyone. Madam Temporary Speaker, this disease also leads to depression. For example, families undergo a lot of depression. It also contributes to broken families. Some men run away from the family just because the wife has a child who suffers from this disease. They suffer in silence. Unlike women, men cannot share their problems. Ladies can talk to someone and the problem will be half solved. Madam Temporary Speaker, lack of personnel and facilities to handle Sickle Cell Disease is a problem. As we speak right now, our hospitals do not have facilities. For example, if you go to Pumwani Maternity Hospital, we do not have enough nurses. The same applies to the KNH. Therefore, something has to be done. Madam Temporary Speaker, there is also lack of awareness. While creating these health centres, counties will do some civic education to the public so that they can understand this disease which is hereditary. Nobody wishes to be born with it. Madam Temporary Speaker, I support the Mover of the Motion by saying that the Government of Kenya, through the county governments, need to establish nationwide centres and satellite clinics for Sickle Cell Disease and other blood disorders at county, sub-county and ward levels. They could even go further to the polling stations. This is a unique disease and something has to be done about it. Madam Temporary Speaker, I support."
}