Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) board chairperson Irungu Nyakera, has offered a series of proposals aimed at resolving doctor’s crisis in the country.
Expressing his personal views in a Monday, March 25 statement, the former PS addressed several key issues that have fueled the strike, offering potential solutions to mitigate the impact on public healthcare services.
First, he highlighted the glaring wage disparities within the medical profession, pointing out that interns earning significantly more than some fully qualified doctors was a cause for discontent.
“Interns can’t earn 206k when some doctors are starting at 48k – let interns accept SRC rates of 70k, or thereabouts,” he said.
KEMSA Chair Suggestions
He suggested aligning intern salaries with those recommended by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), which would help to level the playing field.
Secondly, he called upon the National Assembly to enact legislation mandating higher-level healthcare facilities (level 4 and above) to absorb and directly compensate interns.
By shifting this responsibility to the facilities themselves, Nyakera says the burden on the national government would be alleviated.
“National Assembly should come up with law requiring levels 4 and above to absorb and pay for interns rather than having national government pay,” stated Nyakera.
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Furthermore, the Board Chair emphasized the decentralized nature of healthcare in Kenya, advocating for each county to take full responsibility for managing its own doctors and addressing their specific needs.
This localized approach, he argued, would enable more tailored solutions to be implemented at the grassroots level.
Lastly, he proposed the idea of creating a new doctors’ union if the current one was perceived as failing to adequately represent the interests of its members.
“If the Union is not representing interest of doctors, create a new union to genuinely negotiate for doctors. Pharmacists can have their own separately. It’s a free world,” he said.
Ongoing Doctors strike
Health workers downed their tools on March 14 accusing the government of failing to address their concerns which included a demand to post 4,000 interns to medical facilities.
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On her part, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha on March 19, 2024, said that the government was working to address the doctors’ demands.
“I applaud our doctors and all health care workers who have continued to deliver services to the people as the Ministry of Health and the relevant stakeholders work together to address the issues raised by their union,” Nakhumicha said then.
The health sector has suffered a blow after two meetings that have been held between KMPDU officials and the government failed to yield the desired results, dashing hopes of resolving the crisis that has left thousands of patients stranded across the country.
On its part, the Ministry of Health has however maintained that one of the meeting’s outcomes of posting interns will go on, despite KMPDU’s objection especially on their remuneration.
