Let's talk, CS Nakhumicha tells medics

Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha.[Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha says the government is ready to engage in talks with health practitioners, to bring to an end the ongoing strike which is in its fifth week.

Speaking in Kajiado County, Nakhumicha said: "I want to ask of the doctors that the government has extended an olive branch therefore it is up to them to come to the table and discuss their counteroffer so that we find a solution."

Her pronouncement comes a day after health practitioners through their unions, notified the public of their ongoing strike which has entered day 36.

According to the unions, the government is in a position to address their needs but has chosen to ignore them at the expense of Kenyans who put them in office.

In the same breath, Kenya National Union of Nurses Secretary General Seth Panyako has said that nurses might be forced to join the ongoing strike if the ongoing strike is not settled.

Speaking in Busia County, Panyako said their services in public hospitals have been crippled too as doctors, clinical officers, and pharmaceutical technologists play a huge role in hospitals.

The ongoing strike has seen patients across the country forced to seek medical services in private hospitals or delay their treatment, with some resulting in death.

However, CS Nakhumicha says the delay in resolving the issues is because the government is working to solve the problems in the health sector once and for all, and will not settle for any short-term solution.

"I want to assure the public that as the government we are working to ensure an amicable and lasting solution is reached. What we do not want is to put a bandage on a wound without treating it," she said.

"I want to assure Kenyans that this situation is going to be in control, if not tomorrow, in the next few days we are going to reach an agreement."