Kenya Facing Health Crisis as Doctors down Tools

GOOBJOOG NEWS | NAIROBI: Kenya is staring at a major health crisis as doctors in public hospitals down their tools demanding better terms of service.

Talks between the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) officials for a return-to-work formula collapsed as the medics accused the government of treating the matter casually and sending lawyers instead of senior ministry officials as had been agreed upon.

Thousands of doctors have stayed away from hospitals since last Thursday over poor pay and working conditions, despite a court order calling for talks between the doctors and the Health Ministry.

Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union Secretary-General Dr. Davji Bhimji said the doctors escalated the strike and stopped providing bare minimum services because the government had shown no efforts to resolve the labor dispute.

“In the morning, we managed to close the emergency services that were being offered at the Kenyatta national referral hospital,” he told journalists on Wednesday.

Health Minister Susan Nakhumicha on Wednesday told journalists that she had instructed two top referral hospitals to recruit doctors to replace those taking part in the national strike.

“We will not allow a crisis to happen… We cannot afford to have a gap,” she said, adding that doctors were offered temporary replacements starting Wednesday night.

The country’s health ministry is due on Thursday to issue letters to 1,000 medical interns who will be posted in various hospitals across the country.

The striking doctors accuse the government of failing to implement a raft of promises, including a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2017 after a 100-day strike that saw people die from lack of care.