Doctors at Kenya’s public hospitals have entered the seventh day of a nationwide strike, accusing the government of failing to implement a raft of promises from a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2017. The strike's impact has been felt across the country, with some patients waiting several hours for a consultation, or simply being turned away from hospitals.

Nairobi

Doctors at public hospitals across Kenya are persisting in a nationwide strike, now entering its seventh day. The strike stems from allegations against the government for not fulfilling various commitments outlined in a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2017. The consequences of this industrial action are being felt widely, with reports indicating significant delays in patient consultations. In several instances, patients have either been forced to wait for several hours to see a doctor or were turned away from hospitals entirely due to the strike.



Nationwide doctors strike in Kenya continues for seventh day

In Nairobi's Kenyatta National Hospital, the emergency waiting room is filled to the brink. Josephine Njeri has been waiting for more than six hours to see a doctor and her patience is wearing thin. I have been here since 8 o'clock this morning. We have been told to wait for doctors because they're not in. This isn't normal. We would have been taken care of by now if there wasn't a strike. For the past week, some 4,000 Kenyan doctors have been taking part in a nationwide strike, calling the move a last resort to get the government to the negotiating table. They're accusing authorities of failing to implement a 2017 agreement and are denouncing a collapsing health system, chronic understaffing and low pay for medical professionals. The strike's impact has been felt across the country, with some patients waiting several hours for a consultation or simply turned away from hospitals. But Kenya's health minister, who visited Kenyatta National Hospital to assess operations, said the situation was under control. Do not shy away from accessing services, especially at our national referral hospitals, to resolve the standing issue with the doctors that are on strike. But as far as I'm concerned, the referral hospitals are working pretty well. In 2017, Kenyan doctors went on a 100-day strike, which saw people die from lack of care. The protest movement ended with the signature of a collective agreement. But nearly seven years later, they say authorities haven't lived up to their side of the bargain.

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Tel Aviv-Yafo

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Council of the City of Sydney

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