As the seventh day of a nationwide strike approaches, medical professionals at Kenya’s public hospitals are blaming the government for not carrying out a number of commitments made in a collective bargaining agreement that was struck in 2017 following a 100-day strike that resulted in patient deaths from neglect.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union said that, in addition to demanding comprehensive medical coverage for themselves, they went on strike because the government had not yet posted 1,200 medical interns. The union leaders claim that 4,000 doctors are participating in the nationwide walkout, which is in its seventh day.
Leaders of the doctors’ union have declared that they would not abide by the court judgment, just as the government had defied three previous rulings to boost doctors’ base salary and bring back suspended physicians.
Numerous patients are being turned away from hospitals around East Africa or left neglected as a result of the strike, which is having an impact on the entire nation.
Susan Nakhumicha, the cabinet secretary of the Ministry of Health, paid KNH a visit to evaluate the facility’s functioning. “As far as I’m concerned the referral hospitals are working pretty well and we are committed to ensuring that all facilities under the national hospitals are working,” she told reporters.
