Elderly people will enjoy special treatment in all hospitals and government offices should a Bill sponsored by Kiambu Woman Rep Gathoni Wamuchomba sails through.
The Geriatric Bill 2019 seeks to give compulsory priority to the elderly in all public hospitals. The bill seeks to create special wards to cater for senior citizens.
Wamuchomba who spoke to the press in Juja on Saturday argued that the number of elderly people is on the rise in the country. She said Kiambu’s population has increased by 33 per cent since 2016.
She said more elderly people are seeking treatment in hospitals due to illnesses associated with age.
"Elderly people have no special wards in public hospitals, no specialist doctors and no public care centres and yet they happen to be the majority seeking treatment. The Bill is meant to honour the elderly by ensuring that they get priority in all public hospitals including establishing special wards specifically for the elderly,” she said.
Wamuchomba said the Bill will compel the national government to provide mandatory health cover including the National Health Insurance Fund for all elderly people at a subsidised cost.
She said the Bill provides for the establishment of training capacity in all universities and medical colleges including Kenya Medical Training College to train geriatric doctors, nurses and nutritionists.
Wamuchomba said elderly people have faced sexual abuse, physical harassment and psychological torture. She said that the bill will provide for establishment of a geriatric desk in all police stations to specifically deal with cases of the elderly so as to expedite their quest for justice.
“You’ll find that the elderly are being harassed right, left and centre and being denied their rights. Land grabbers are targeting parcels owned by the elderly because they know the cases will drag on for years and the victims might pass on even before ruling. This Bill is seeking to have all cases involving our poor senior citizens expedited so that they can get justice,” she said.
