The health systems of counties have been creaking under the strain of delayed payments, staff shortages, stretched budgets and lack of proper equipment and drugs, prompting strikes every so often.
Currently, healthcare workers in four counties - Nyamira, Kisumu, Vihiga and Bomet - have down their tools after the county governments failed to pay salaries by March 19, the last day of the strike notice issued by the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists Dentists' Union (KMPDU).