As the Covid-19 virus establishes itself roots throughout Kenya through increased community transmission, County governments have been urged to cater for the needs of health workers. Counties are not only grappling with a shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), but also unrest among health workers, who’ve carried the weight of salary delays and poor working conditions.
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has appealed to the County administrations to listen to the complaints and murmurs of health workers, with a view of solving their problems, “As a Ministry we stand ready to extend our support as may be necessary to ensure our people are served across the country.” He added that there is a need to hire more health workers, “We have increased funding to County governments to do exactly that.”
Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) Secretary General Seth Panyako had earlier warned that nurses countrywide may down their tools on Monday due to poor working conditions and unpaid allowances in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said some nurses also had been provided with substandard PPEs. However, Health CS Kagwe speaking on Wednesday noted that Kenya turned to local production of PPEs, given that the supply was strained from external sources, at a time when many countries were reporting Coronavirus cases, “We got into the market when the demand was extremely high.”