Health ministry to blame for strike, says House team
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The senator, who is a medical doctor, however, called upon the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union (KMPPDU to be sensitive to the suffering of patients.
He urged health workers to give dialogue a chance to help unlock the stalemate.
He said that the country, which already has a shortage of doctors, risks losing out more if the government continues to take the profession for granted.
Doctors have been leaving the country for greener pastures in southern Africa and the West.
The national government is largely to blame for the on-going medical workers' strike that has paralysed health services countrywide, senators have said.
The Senate Health Committee on Wednesday accused the government of failing to recognise that health is a devolved function and release all the funds meant to run county hospitals.
Committee chairman Wilfred Machage said clinging to county funds and disbursing them late had undermined the health sector.
DEVOLUTION HITCH
“The national government must respect the Constitution and accept that the health function is devolved. Holding onto funds at the national level will only worsen the situation,” Dr Machage told Nation.co.ke by phone.
The job boycott, he said, only confirms that more funds are required in counties yet a lot of is being retained by the national government, which controls only three national referral hospitals.
These are Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital in Nairobi.
SUFFERING PATIENTS
The senator, who is a medical doctor, however, called upon the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union (KMPPDU to be sensitive to the suffering of patients.
He urged health workers to give dialogue a chance to help unlock the stalemate.
He said the country, which already has a shortage of doctors, risks losing out more if the government continues to take the profession for granted.
Doctors have been leaving Kenya for greener pastures in southern Africa and the West.
SH40,000 SALARY
“A doctor who has taken years to go to school is paid Sh40,000 per month upon graduation. This is far much below what other less educated Kenyans earn. It is an abuse of the profession," Dr Machage said.
However, he said the doctors should scale down their salary increment demands from 300 percent to utmost 150 percent.
KMPPDU, led by secretary-general Ouma Oluga, has maintained that they deserve the pay and challenged Kenyans this time round, to think of the "doctors’ plight".
Dr Machage said besides respecting the 2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement that is the basis for the doctors’ strike, the government must come up with a minimum pay that takes into consideration their skills and nature of training.
HEALTH POLICIES
He regretted that whereas Parliament is wrapping up a Health Bill that is set to address most of the challenges facing the sector, the Health ministry is reluctant to come up with appropriate health policies to guide the process.
“In fact, the policies were supposed to have been in place before the Bill. The national government must come up with a policy to govern promotions, training and human resource management, which are causing these strikes,” Dr Machage.
He said reluctance by the national government to come up with these policies is an indicator that it is not ready to devolve health services and resources to the counties, as required by law.
