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{
    "id": 988783,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/988783/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 361,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, there are 44 recommendations, so I cannot read all of them. So, I will look for the top recommendations. I must say that we need to leverage religious, political and community leaders at all levels of society for the dissemination of well-packaged, COVID-19 public messages. Further, the current communication and messaging strategy employed by the Ministry needs to be shifted from one that emphasizes criminality, to one that emphasizes social responsibility and solidarity. We do not preach fear any more, let us preach social responsibility and solidarity. Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, the ongoing efforts by the Ministry of Health should include the proposed Universal Healthcare (UHC) Scheme and the NHIF benefits package needs to be fast-tracked. There is a role that we are playing as the Senate. We have asked the Ministry of Health to provide a report to the Senate on the whereabouts of the 30 ventilators it is said to have purchased. In order to narrow the alarming gap in critical care services across the counties, we have recommended that a grant from the COVID-19 emergency fund be provided for every county to make sure that every county gets 10 extra ICU beds. That is a very specific proposal. We also recommend that this Kshs5 Billion grant promised to county governments be released. As at the time we spoke to them, they had not seen it. County Assemblies need to speedily ensure the passage and proper prioritization of supplementary budgets needed by counties to enable implementation of county-led response plans. Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, we have said that a conditional grant be provided for counties for services foregone that is equivalent to the annual costs of releasing postgraduate doctors who have gone on study leave. The Ministry needs to fast-track the activation of gene expert machines in counties and scale up the supply of sample collection kits. Furthermore, it needs to fast track accreditation of regional laboratories in Machakos, Wajir, Malindi, Busia and Trans Nzoia, as well as the International Livestock Research Institute (ILIRI), the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), the African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) and the United Nations (UN). 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."
}