Johnson Arthur Sakaja

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 2251 to 2260 of 5036.

• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: We observe that the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution assigns the function of training and capacity-building to the national Government according to submissions made by the KMPDU. These doctors provide over 60 per cent of the health workforce at national teaching and referral hospitals. While we acknowledge that the national Government meets the cost of training, county governments have been forced to bear the heavy cost of paying salaries for doctors whose services are essentially rendered at national level. For instance, Kisii County has 65 doctors on postgraduate training. The annual cost of training one such doctor is Kshs500,000. So, ... view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: doctors is around Kshs32,500,000. However, the County Government of Kisii pays them around Kshs250,000-300,000 per month. These doctors are in Nairobi and not in Kisii. So, the cost to the County Government of Kisii in a year is Kshs195,000,000 or at most, Kshs234,000,000 which is six to seven times the cost incurred by the national Government. So, there needs to be a balance and we have specific recommendations on that. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are many other issues on human resources for health. However, I will keep them in the report because I do not want to miss out ... view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: We need to address the issue of lack of adequate specialized and laboratory personnel, lack of adequate sample collection kits, insufficient reagents and consumables necessary for conducting the tests. view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, we take note of and laud efforts by the Ministry of Health and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) to scale-up testing as demonstrated by initiating automated testing; conducting whole genome sequencing of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) virus; developing points of care screening kits; and producing Viral Transport Media (VTM), which I talked about, and we are even supplying to our neighbours. It has resulted to a lot of cost-savings to the Government. view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: Despite these achievements, the Committee nonetheless notes that having exhausted most of its capacity in the personnel, equipment, reagents and materials, KEMRI urgently needs Kshs790 million to meet its institutional needs in personnel, reagents, consumables, and research and equipment needs. view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: Further, and as I intimated earlier, the Committee notes with concern the recent media reports regarding the demotion of Dr. Joel Lutomia, the Chairperson of the KEMRI Rapid Response Team and the Director of KEMRI Center for Virus Research by Mr. Yeri Kombe allegedly after being instructed by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, for failure to release timely results on Friday. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in relation to the above, we observe that the timing of the dismissal or demotion is wrong as it is likely to have a significant impact on the morale and motivation of the various staff ... view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: With respect to isolation facilities, according to the submissions, we face a critical deficit in isolation capacity with the total projected needs for these beds are 3,116. That is an area where we have made recommendations. view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: Further, we note that for purposes of controlling against the risk of cross- contamination and minimizing disruptions, it is necessary for the governments at the national and county level to move expeditiously to designate specific facilities for the 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. view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: isolation of COVID-19 patients at national and regional level. We do not have to do it in every county as at this point, but can have one facility within the regions for now, as we go on to build the capacity of our counties moving forward. Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, quarantine is also another huge issue. With respect to this, we have noted the number of people who had been held. We have said that quarantine is being used illegally. People are being taken to quarantine for not adhering to the curfew. If you look at the notice on the ... view
• 28 Apr 2020 in Senate: With respect to Community Health Services (CHS), we have made clear recommendations that the law be followed, but let us also look at the state of quarantine facilities. We have been speaking to some of the quarantined Kenyans, and they have told us what they are going through, and the Ministry has assured of improvements in the state of such facilities view