The Council of Governors has asked the Kenya Medical Practitioners and the Dentists Union (KMPDU) to hold on the planned doctors’ strike as various stakeholders address their issue.
The Council Chairperson Governor Anne Waiguru appealed to the medics to be more sensitive to the current economic state in the country, and put the lives of Kenyans first.
“While the Council of Governor’s appreciate the rights of medics, we also urge them to protect the lives of Citizens as entrenched in the constitution.” She Said.
Speaking during the launch of County Health Workers Scholarship Scheme on Tuesday, Waiguru said that the doctors should be alive to fact that the country inherited huge debts and had a big burden of servicing the health facilities.
She reiterated that the current demands for salary increase were not sensitive to the economic realities, noting that the country was struggling due to international debts policies and the Government was keen to ensure the nation recovered from the cycle of debts.
The Governor said that the strike timing was wrong at a time the devolved units were planning the Mega Universal coverage launch adding the action would create negative perception of the health sector.
She said that CoG appreciates the Critical roles played by the medics and pledged to follow up on amicable ways to resolve their grievances. Waiguru said that the health sector had undergone major transformation through devolution system than witnessed in the past noting that the health docket was safe under county governments.
On building the capacity of the county health workers to offer specialized services the COG Chair underscored the importance of having a well-trained healthcare workforce in counties to offer specialized services in a bid to reduce child and maternal mortality rates.
Speaking during the launch of County Health Workers Scholarship Scheme on Tuesday, the (COG) Chair, Anne Waiguru, said that availing pediatric sub-specialists especially in health facilities with acute shortages will address the problem and help in the achievement of Universal Health Coverage.
Quoting the 2022 Kenya Demographic Heath Survey (KDHS), Waiguru noted that there has been a decline in the under-5 mortality rate from 52 deaths in 2014 to 41 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022 while the infant mortality rate declined from 39 to 32 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The neonatal mortality rate has, however, remained the same, slightly declining from 22 to 21 deaths per 1,000 live births and accounting for 66% of infant deaths and 51% of under-5 deaths.
The governor added that, sadly, Kenya loses an estimated 64,400 children under five years of age and 5,600 mothers annually from preventable and treatable conditions, some of which can be attributed to the shortage of pediatric sub-specialists.
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