Kenya’s Nationwide Doctor Strike Reaches Seventh Day
Kenya’s public hospitals are grappling with a nationwide strike now in its seventh day, as doctors accuse the government of reneging on promises made in a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2017. This agreement was reached after a devastating 100-day strike that resulted in loss of lives due to lack of medical care.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union initiated the strike, citing demands for comprehensive medical cover for doctors and the government’s failure to fulfill its commitment to deploy 1,200 medical interns. Despite a labor court order urging the union to halt the strike for negotiations, union leaders insist that approximately 4,000 doctors are actively participating in the strike. They argue that the government’s disregard for court orders related to salary increases and reinstating suspended doctors justifies their defiance of the current court order.
The impact of the strike is widespread, with many patients left unattended or turned away from hospitals across the country. Josephine Njeri, a patient at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), expressed frustration after spending hours waiting for medical attention. Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha from the Ministry of Health visited KNH to assess operations, assuring reporters that referral hospitals are functioning effectively and emphasizing the government’s commitment to ensuring the smooth operation of all national hospital facilities.
This strike echoes a similar crisis in 2017, when public hospital doctors staged a 100-day strike, the longest in Kenya’s history, demanding better wages and improvements to the country’s deteriorating public health facilities. Among their demands were increased salaries, continuous training, and recruitment of doctors to address critical shortages in healthcare professionals. At the time, public doctors, despite undergoing six years of university training, received basic salaries ranging from $400 to $850 per month, comparable to some police officers who undergo only six months of training.
The current strike underscores persistent challenges within Kenya’s healthcare system and highlights the ongoing struggle of healthcare professionals to secure fair compensation and adequate resources to provide quality care to patients.
