This archive report was first published on 7 May 2020.
On May 7, 2020, the Union of National Research Institutes Staff of Kenya, representing staff at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), wrote a letter to Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe, appealing for risk allowances.
According to the letter, KEMRI staff face high health risks due to the handling and storage of pathogens in their stations across the country. The staff are exposed to various health risks, including those associated with handling highly infectious clinical samples such as anthrax, Ebola, Chikungunya, Yellow Fever, Polio, Bird Flu, HIV, MDR, XDR, TB, and bacteria/fungi, Typhoid, cholera, and Covid-19.
UNRISK Secretary General Zachariah Achacha stated in the letter that KEMRI staff interact with patients in extraneous field conditions and undertake follow-up laboratory procedures that require long hours, including weekends. He emphasized the need for emergency call and extraneous allowances for all scientists at the equivalent rate with doctors at national hospitals.
Mutahi Kagwe
