This archive report was first published on 21 August 2020.
As Kenya grapples with a surge in Covid-19 cases, the country's healthcare system is facing a major crisis. Health workers across the nation have gone on strike, citing poor pay, lack of personal protective equipment, and anxiety due to the death of their colleagues.
According to the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health, more than 800 healthcare workers have been infected with Covid-19, with 16 fatalities reported. The Kenya National Union of Laboratory Technicians has also raised concerns about the government's failure to remit insurance payments, even when workers pay for their own insurance.
Counties such as Nyamira, Kisii, and Siaya have managed to avert a crisis in the health sector by striking a return-to-work deal with medics. However, in Nairobi, the situation remains dire, with doctors and nurses on strike due to inadequate health insurance, poor quality protective gear, and insufficient isolation wards.
Dr Thuranira Kaugiria, the Nairobi secretary-general of the doctors' union, stated that 320 doctors employed by the county government are participating in the strike due to these concerns. The same issues have been reported in Kisumu County.
Dr Kevin Osuri, the Nyanza chairman of the doctors' union, has called for health functions to be reverted to the national government. He also revealed that Homa Bay County health executive Prof Richard Muga had threatened to sue the medics for 'failing to show up at work.'
By Saturday Nation Team, published on August 21, 2020.
