Doctor's Strike in Kenya

Two months ago Kenya’s public sector doctors went on strike. Millions of Kenyans, especially in rural areas are now feeling the aftermath of this decision. The public health system in Kenya has long been underfunded, but has now almost completely stopped functioning after around 5,000 doctors walked out in December after the government failed to increase their wages to be increased by 96-125%. The government agreed to implement this change four years ago, but in the absence legitimate revision they have gone on strike.

Recently the Kenyan government has decided to arrest seven of the leaders of the strike. They have been given a month of jail time for failing to call off the strike that has crippled public hospitals for 10 weeks. Following this decision, the doctor’s union has decided to completely cut of negotiations with the government until the union officials are released.

The saving mothers team originally had a trip planned to Kenya in March, but will likely be rescheduling to a later time in order to assure we can be our most productive while we are there.