Strike by doctors continue to cripple Kenya’s health care system

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - A strike by doctors in Kenya entered a second month this week and there are no signs Tuesday of resolution.

Hundreds of medical practitioners paraded through the streets of the Kenyan capital, causing a traffic gridlock.

The demonstration, organized by health care workers, demanded better working conditions and improved remuneration. It saw doctors, nurses and other medical staff marching with placards and chanting slogans.

"Doctors remain resolute: We won't resume work until our concerns are resolved," Secretary-General of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), Davji Bhimji, told reporters.

Public hospitals remain severely understaffed, leaving patients struggling to access essential care.

Monica Kamau, a businesswoman, was stranded outside Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi.

"I've been waiting for hours, but there are no doctors available, there are some activities but it is very slow, many people are suffering even more than I am around here," Kamau told Anadolu.

The stalemate between the KMPDU and the government began with a strike March 14 and centers around a 2017 collective bargaining agreement that the doctors claim has not been fully implemented.

Key points of contention include salary increases, improved working conditions and the hiring of additional medical personnel.

Health Minister Susan Nakhumicha said Tuesday that a government-union agreement was imminent.

"If not tomorrow, in the next few days we are going to reach an agreement," Nakhumicha told reporters. "I want to remind the doctors that we serve a common patient and ask them to come to the table and consider what the government has offered."

Government officials have accused the KMPDU of being unreasonable, while the union maintains that it is fighting for the basic rights of health care workers.

The consequences of the strike are devastating as patients with critical conditions are being turned away from hospitals all across the country and many are forced to seek expensive treatment at private facilities or resort to traditional healers.