100-day doctors’ strike ends
Thousands of doctors at Kenya's public hospitals have agreed to end a 100-day strike that saw people dying from lack of care, an official with the doctors' union said on Tuesday.
The strike was blamed for dozens of deaths, as the majority of Kenyans cannot afford private health care.
The government and union officials signed a deal to address pay and other issues in dispute, said Dr Ouma Oluga, the secretary-general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union.
"It is regrettable that it took so long. Kenyans have suffered ... we cannot fathom the extent of pain which Kenyans felt in the 100 days," said Kenya's health minister, Cleopa Mailu.
President Uhuru Kenyatta last week threatened to fire the 5 000 doctors if they didn't return to work, but doctors defied him. Earlier, seven union officials were jailed for a month for contempt of court for not ending the strike.
The doctors have pushed for the implementation of a 2013 collective bargaining agreement that committed the government to increase pay, restore dilapidated public health facilities and consistently train doctors, among other issues. It also set out measures to address the East African country's huge shortage of doctors.
The government has said it does not recognise the 2013 collective bargaining agreement.
Kenya's public doctors, who train for six years at universities, earn a basic salary of between N$5 250 to N$11 160. That's similar to some policemen who train for just six months.
Kenya's doctors also went on strike in 2012 to protest the bad state of public health care. Emergency rooms in some public hospitals frequently don't have gloves or medicine, and power outages sometimes force doctors to use their cell phones to provide adequate light for a surgical procedure.
NAMPA/AP
The strike was blamed for dozens of deaths, as the majority of Kenyans cannot afford private health care.
The government and union officials signed a deal to address pay and other issues in dispute, said Dr Ouma Oluga, the secretary-general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union.
"It is regrettable that it took so long. Kenyans have suffered ... we cannot fathom the extent of pain which Kenyans felt in the 100 days," said Kenya's health minister, Cleopa Mailu.
President Uhuru Kenyatta last week threatened to fire the 5 000 doctors if they didn't return to work, but doctors defied him. Earlier, seven union officials were jailed for a month for contempt of court for not ending the strike.
The doctors have pushed for the implementation of a 2013 collective bargaining agreement that committed the government to increase pay, restore dilapidated public health facilities and consistently train doctors, among other issues. It also set out measures to address the East African country's huge shortage of doctors.
The government has said it does not recognise the 2013 collective bargaining agreement.
Kenya's public doctors, who train for six years at universities, earn a basic salary of between N$5 250 to N$11 160. That's similar to some policemen who train for just six months.
Kenya's doctors also went on strike in 2012 to protest the bad state of public health care. Emergency rooms in some public hospitals frequently don't have gloves or medicine, and power outages sometimes force doctors to use their cell phones to provide adequate light for a surgical procedure.
NAMPA/AP
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