Kenya: doctors’ strike continues and leads to an increase in mortality

The morgues in Nairobi and Mombasa, the country’s second city, are currently full, according to The Daily Nation. The KMPDU, the Kenyan Union of doctors, pharmacists, and dentists, acknowledges a significant increase in mortality, and is leading the mobilization.

At the moment, public hospitals in the capital are almost empty and most are refusing to admit patients. On the coast, the hospitals in the six counties are operating at less than 30% of their capacity, according to the KMPDU. The authorities are therefore urging Kenyan doctors to show responsibility. On Tuesday, the council of governors ordered them to return to work.

President William Ruto himself asked doctors not to live beyond the means of the country. These statements only serve to strengthen the determination of the strikers. Their demands were all accepted by the government in 2017 when new collective agreements were signed. “It’s the authorities who are abandoning the patients, not the doctors!” protests Davji Bhimji Atellah, the general secretary of the KMPDU. “On the contrary, we are fighting for a quality and sustainable healthcare system,” he concludes.

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