Kazungu Kambi

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 221 to 230 of 675.

• 8 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary, Speaker, I am responding to the petition. Members of this House have also contributed to the improvement of this sector. More than 1,000 dispensaries have been put up using the Constituencies Development Fund money since its inception. view
• 8 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, human resources for health have also improved in recent years. We now have specialists in places that could not attract them a few years ago. In addition, the numbers of health personnel in the country keep rising year after year, thanks to the expanded training facilities. Presently, the numbers are very big that the sector is not able to absorb all of them. The demand for the ever increasing population, effects of drought, high inflation rates and effects of globalization have meant that the resources our country generates are not sufficient to address the country’s needs. ... view
• 8 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: The Ministries of Health have developed a business plan to revitalize health infrastructure, human resources for health, health financing and supply of commodities in the country to improve the working environment. The plan which will cost the Government, a staggering Kshs80 billion has been submitted to the Cabinet for consideration. After the Cabinet approves it, it will come to the House. So, I will seek also the help of my colleagues to approve the same. view
• 8 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Minister for Medical Services met officials of the Union on 21st of November, 2011 and received their grievances. Since then, meetings with the Union officials have been taking place almost daily. I have attempted to address general members of the Union, who assembled at Afya House. However, they booed me and rejected me. To the contrary, if any party to this matter is guilty of silence and hostility, it is the Union. view
• 8 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, on the claims of brain drain, it is true that a good number of doctors who join the Civil service as interns exit the service by the end of the mandatory 36 months. However, brain drain in the health sector is not a phenomenon. It is a problem the country has had for decades, and its cause is the inability of the country to match the better compensation packages offered by other countries or private health providers. In the last few years, the number of doctors leaving the public health sector has increased tremendously. The Ministry ... view
• 8 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: On claims of annual cuts on health budget contrary to the Abuja Declaration, Kenya is a signatory to the Abuja Declaration. However, the 15 per cent allocation of the national budget to health is seen as a long-term goal which the signatories try to achieve. Currently, Kenya stands at 7 per cent. It is not true that there have been annual cuts to the health budget. The Printed Estimates published by the Treasury every year shows that the budget for the sector has been increasing. However, it has not been increasing in proportion to the demand of the increasing population ... view
• 8 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the public health sector has considerably invested in research, both scientific and operational. The Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) is the flagship agent for medical research in the sector. Other agencies of the Ministry that engage in research include the Division of Vector Borne Diseases, Malaria Control and Programme, and National Public Health Laboratories. Clinicians are also encouraged to carry out operational research in their areas of specialization, and a number of service delivery improvements have been made out of this type of research. view
• 8 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, health workers are civil servants and their terms and conditions of service are tied with those of other civil servants. These apply to basic salaries and common allowances. Notwithstanding, the above case, the pay package of the medical practitioners, pharmacists and dentists are the best in the Civil Service. This is because they earn special allowances like non-practising and risk allowances that other civil servants do not enjoy. The non-practising allowances ranges from Kshs12,000 for an intern joining the service to Kshs60,000 for a Senior Deputy Director of Medical Services. However, the Director of Medical Services ... view
• 8 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Medical practitioners, pharmacists and dentists join the Civil Service as interns at job Group L, where they serve for one year, and then they are appointed as Medical Officers on Job Group M. Other cadres join at lower levels, Job Group J for general degrees, and Job Group K for other professional degrees. Thus medical practitioners, pharmacists and dentists already enjoy privileged terms in the Civil Service. Even with the salary scales, the entry point for medical practitioners, pharmacists and dentists are towards the maximum of the scale, while other cadres have to begin from the start. Within the common ... view
• 8 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, before the strike, the PSC had in addition approved payment of extraneous allowance for health workers ranging from Kshs5,000 for theatre support personnel to Kshs40,000 per month for doctors handling policy and co-ordination. What was remaining was funding from the Treasury. The Treasury has now approved funds for improvement of terms and conditions of service for health workers as follows: Kshs200 million for training has been availed. Also, Kshs1.9 billion for payment of extraneous allowances on phase one with effect from December, 2011 has been availed by the Treasury. A further Kshs5.2 billion for payment of ... view