{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=139646","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=139644","results":[{"id":1412861,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412861/?format=json","text_counter":287,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Esther Passaris (","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Nairobi County, ODM): Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Cabinet Secretary, on H. pylori, I want you to understand that when a woman goes to a hospital or a facility and she is having severe motion, stomach cramps, and pain and she needs to conduct tests, even if she has NHIF, she is going to be asked for some money to conduct that test. If she does not have the money to conduct the test, she goes home with untreated H. pylori . I have just checked with Mama Lucy Hospital, and the drug is actually out of stock. If H. pylori is untreated and the Government does not take it seriously in terms of making sure that we do random testing of society and of the communities to see where it is prevalent and what treatments are appropriate, just the way we treat any other ailment, we are going to deal with a lot of ulcers and stomach cancers. There could be a correlation between the increase in cancers of the colon because of untreated H. pylori. I was trying to get a global picture on whether the Ministry of Health sees H. pylori and the resultant untreated illnesses as an issue, and if there are plans to go to the public and test. About three months ago, five of my friends and I all had H. pylori at the same time. So, I am beginning to think that it is prevalent and we need to make an assessment of what is going on in the grassroots. When it comes to NHIF and fistula, fistula for me is, even though it is not life- threatening, actually reduces the dignity of the lives of the women who suffer from it. I know that Kenyatta National Hospital offers the fistula surgeries with NHIF. Majority of the women who suffer from fistula do not have NHIF and so, they are out there suffering. When it comes to making sure that everybody is covered by SHIF going forward, I want to suggest an innovative financing. Right now, you have not been able to get every Kenyan to sign up for NHIF, even at Ksh500 per household per month. So, when we move to SHIF, even if you are going to lower it and say it is X amount, I agree with Hon. Mathenge that getting them to pay it lumpsum at the beginning would not work. I would like to take you to innovative financing through transactional tax. Maybe, it would be easier for us to consider that because that was used by certain countries to raise money for vaccines by putting a tax on business class tickets and economy tickets. That is why we get vaccines at a low price. So, if you put an innovative tax of X percent…"},{"id":1412862,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412862/?format=json","text_counter":288,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Speaker","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"You are making a speech. Ask your question."},{"id":1412863,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412863/?format=json","text_counter":289,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Esther Passaris (","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Nairobi County, ODM): I just wanted to know whether the Ministry was considering innovative tax options to enable those unable to afford lumpsum payments to join SHIF. One option could be a tax on power bills or mobile calls because that is the way to make them not feel the burden and to rope everyone in to have the medical cover."},{"id":1412864,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412864/?format=json","text_counter":290,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Speaker","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Thank you, Esther. Cabinet Secretary, you hear the passion of the Nairobi Women Representative. Do you agree with her? The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor"},{"id":1412865,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412865/?format=json","text_counter":291,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Ms. Susan Nakhumicha)"},{"id":1412866,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412866/?format=json","text_counter":292,"type":"heading","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":":"},{"id":1412867,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412867/?format=json","text_counter":293,"type":"other","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Thank you, Hon. Speaker and Hon. Members. Hon. Passaris is my friend and on many occasions, she has come to bring me ideas on what we need to do at different levels. On the issue of the drugs that treat H-pylori being out of stock at the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, we have the drugs at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA). That is a supply chain issue on how stocks or products move from the KEMSA to other facilities. That can be looked into. I will then defer the question to the Governor of Nairobi City County so that he can explain the discrepancies. Why the gap? We have the drugs at the KEMSA, but they are unavailable at the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital. On the issue of fistula, one of the things that we need to do is to educate the public because the most prevalent cause of fistula is pregnancy in young girls whose bodies are not mature enough to carry babies. That is how they end up with fistula in most cases. The solution is to empower girls, especially those from less privileged backgrounds, so that they can go to school and understand the repercussions of some of these things. We will then get a sustainable solution to the fistula problem. We also understand that there are many factors to…"},{"id":1412868,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412868/?format=json","text_counter":294,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Speaker","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Hold on, Cabinet Secretary. Yes, Esther. Is there a problem?"},{"id":1412869,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412869/?format=json","text_counter":295,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Nairobi City County, ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. Esther Passaris","speaker":null,"content":" Hon. Speaker, with all due respect, during the pandemic, over 300,000 girls were defiled and became pregnant. Since safe abortions are not permitted and the Ministry has not released the regulations on safe abortions and trained doctors on the same, those girls are forced to have children and they end up getting fistula. We should not look at the behavioural circumstances that lead to fistula. Many people suffer from fistula today due to sexual gender-based violence. Young girls get fistula due to rape and defilement. We need to ensure that we provide fistula operations or safe abortions for young girls aged 10, 11 or 12 years old. The only reason we cannot currently provide safe abortions is because we have not released the regulations on safe abortions and yet, the law permits a doctor to perform a safe abortion if he or she determines it to be necessary. It is wrong to assume that a girl’s behaviour leads to fistula. I know many women who have delivered babies and because they have small passages, they end up with fistula. Many of those women are married. The women who I am currently dealing with and who are suffering from fistula are married. Fistula can also be caused by surgical procedures gone wrong and inflammations due to urinary tract infections (UTIs)."},{"id":1412870,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1412870/?format=json","text_counter":296,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Speaker","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"You have made your point."}]}