Public hospital doctors are on strike across Kenya, accusing the government of failing to deliver on promises to improve working conditions.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has launched a nationwide strike since March 14 involving 4,000 doctors, demanding that the government fulfill its commitment to provide them with comprehensive health insurance and deploy 1,200 additional resident doctors.
The strike took place despite a court order to suspend it to allow the KMPDU to negotiate with the government. Dr Dennis Miskellah, deputy general secretary of the union, said the KMPDU was acting “in the same way the government ignored three other court orders” to increase the basic salary of doctors and restore benefits to suspended doctors.
Resident doctors make up 27% of the workforce in Kenya’s public hospitals. The impact of the strike was felt across the country, with many patients being denied treatment. Some doctors remained on duty to ensure care for patients in intensive care units.
Kenyan doctors wearing white coats took to the streets to protest on March 14. Photo: AA
In 2017, doctors in Kenya’s public hospitals went on a 100-day strike, the longest and largest in the country’s history, demanding that the government raise salaries and restore dilapidated health facilities. Doctors also demanded more training at medical schools to address the severe shortage of doctors.
At that time, Kenyan public doctors were trained for 6 years at university and had a basic salary of 400-850 USD per month, equal to that of police officers trained for 6 months.
A 2017 strike left many Kenyan patients dead due to lack of medical care. The Kenyan government later signed an agreement to improve working conditions for doctors, but has yet to implement it.
Duc Trung (According to Africa News, AP )
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