Kenya: 500 Tanzanian doctors hired in wake of strike

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Kenya will hire 500 physicians from neighboring Tanzania in the wake of a three-month doctors’ strike that ended earlier this week, local officials announced Saturday.

"We have doctors who are currently not working, so we have decided to send 500 doctors to Kenya to help mitigate the effects of the 100-day strike and also to fill the gap of the shortage of doctors in Kenya," Tanzanian President John Magufuli said alongside Kenyan Health Minister Cleaopa Mailu.

Magufuli added that Kenya had agreed to pay the doctors well, but gave no details, as well as to pay for their accommodation and offer ample security.

Among the reasons for the Kenyan strike was the shortage of doctors in public hospitals in the country, in addition to pay.

The hiring announcement comes just days after Kenyan doctors signed a return to work deal with the Kenyan government, ending the three-month impasse.

The agreement was signed by Kenya’s Health Minister Cleopa Mailu and officials from the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) at Delta House in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.