This archive report was first published on 2 August 2019.
Published on August 2, 2019, a report by the Kenya Health Service Delivery Indicator highlights a concerning trend in the country's healthcare system.
According to the report, which covered 3,095 facilities across Kenya, over 50% of doctors, nurses, and clinical officers are absent from their workstations on any given day.
Doctors recorded the highest rates of absence at 60.7%, followed by nurses at 49.5%, and clinical officers at 49.5%.
Speaking on the issue, National Council for Population and Development director-general Josephine Kibaru attributed the absence to authorised leave granted by supervisors.
"In any workplace setting, absence may be authorised or unauthorised," Kibaru said.
"From a consumer's perspective, however, these providers are not available to deliver services at the facility, whether authorised or not," she added.
Kenya Medical Association Secretary General Simon Kigondu, however, disputed the report's findings, arguing that doctors who had been granted leave from work should not be recorded as absent.
