Johnson Arthur Sakaja

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 2241 to 2250 of 5036.

• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: even resources for health, drugs and supplies, the role and the level of engagement of county governments and mental health and psychosocial support. Subsequently, pursuant to Article 118 of the Constitution, and the Senate Standing Orders on public participation, the Committee invited stakeholders and members of the public to submit written memorandum arising from and or related to this pandemic. As of 27th of April, 2020, the Committee had received a total of 160 written submissions from members of the public, from public and private institutions and a majority of which directly addressed concerns arising from this first thematic area ... view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: at the time of writing this Report. Accordingly, as the Covid-19 Disease outbreak situation evolves, the Government’s response evolves with it. Some of the Committee’s observations and recommendations on the thematic area may by necessity be reviewed and we will continue. That is why you gave us a six-month mandate coupled with a one-week reporting requirement. For the current situation, however, and in relation to this thematic area, we observed that - (1) Kenya is likely, still in the initial stage of the Covid-19 Disease outbreak. While consensus on the country’s modeling projections is yet to be conclusively arrived at, ... view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) at the time of the writing of this report; (5) With regard to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facilities, we face serious deficits as a country in the availability of ICU beds and ventilators. This is something that we seriously need to consider as a Senate. According to the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders, we only have a total of 518 ICU beds in both public and private facilities. Of these, 94 per cent or 448 ICU beds out of 518 are already in use by non-COVID-19 patients requiring critical care services. Mr. Deputy ... view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir. view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir. I was talking about ICU facilities and what we need to do as a Senate. We have 27 counties that do not have a single ICU facility. We need to look at that and direct allocations to specific counties. (6) With regard to the availability of ventilators, we only have 297 ventilators, of which only 90 are available to the public at health facilities. According to submissions, an additional 30 ventilators were procured by the Ministry of Health but the Council of Governors (CoGs) stated that none of these additional ventilators have been distributed ... view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: (7) We note that according to submissions received from the CoGs and the Ministry of Health, the national Government has made a commitment to allocate Kshs5 billion to county governments to be disbursed over a period of three months to facilitate county response plans and purchase of necessary equipment, essential medical supplies and commodities such as PPE; view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: (8) In relation to human resources for health, we take note and laud the mass recruitment exercise by the national Government which is set to increase the number of human resource for health responding to the pandemic by 5,500 health workers under the UHC scheme. That is 703 contracted health professionals including 188 medical officers, 72 medical specialists, 94 clinical officers, 235 ICU nurses, 94 chest physiotherapists and 20 epidemiologists. We note with concern the exclusion of other cadres of health workers such as graduate and specialist nurses from the mass recruitment exercise; view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: (9) With regard to providing an adequate compensation package for the motivation and welfare of health workers, we take note of and laud a commitment to develop a comprehensive compensation package for health workers that includes medical, disability and life insurance for health workers, risk allowances and tax relief. During a pandemic, we can give income tax relief to all our medical personnel for that period, say, three or six months. It goes a long way in not only boosting their morale but also providing for them in these unique circumstances. view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: (10) With regard to PPEs, we note that at the time we wrote this report, the Ministry of Health reported that it had distributed and delivered 3,682 PPEs to various facilities. Of course, this number is lower than what is required. We are glad that they are continuing increase to produce locally. We have insisted that every measure must be taken to ensure that health workers receive adequate PPEs and understand that the quality of the standard be set and verified by Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS). The CS demonstrated to us that he tested the PPEs together with doctors ... view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: (11) Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, we further take note of concerns raised by the Ministry of Health and COG on the issue of personnel regarding resident doctors on study leave who are rendering services at national teaching and referral facilities. There are efforts by various county governments to recall these personnel back to their counties to facilitate the county response activities. view