A healthcare workers’ union has stated that no county has fully met their demands and that members would stay away from their workstations until their needs were met.

This comes a day after Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui expressed fears that local doctors were planning to join their national colleagues but the county had met their demands.

“I want to make it clear that no single county of the 47 has met the doctors’ demands in full,” stated Acting Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union General Secretary Chibanzi Mwachonda.

Early today, the union launched a nationwide doctors’ strike that saw services paralysed in all the public facilities. At the Nakuru Level 5 Hospital, services went on smoothly.

Minister for Health Dr Gichuki Kariuki said the county had a binding agreement with KMPDU signed on September 4 stating that local doctors should keep off strikes after meeting most of the demands.

“By September when we signed the agreement, we had met over 70 % of their demands. We don’t expect any doctor to join the national strike,” he stated.

He said that by the end of September, all doctors on the payroll had been provided with enhanced medical cover, effected and backdated common cadre promotions and arrears paid in full.

By September, Dr Gichuki said, 11 doctors had been released for postgraduate studies locally and abroad on merit. The county is in the process of refunding money to 60 self-sponsored doctors.

KMPDU- South Rift branch Secretary-General Davji Atellah said the County had shown willingness to address the doctors’ plight.

The County government of Nakuru has received the second consignment of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) from the Kenya COVID-19 Fund Board and Equity Group Foundation.

Speaking when he graced the event at the Nakuru Level 5 Hospital, Equity Group Foundation Chief Commercial Officer Polycarp Igathe noted that healthy healthcare workers are key to win the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that the PPEs which are part of the Sh1.1Billion Kitty of the Equity Group are meant to   to inspire Medical workers as they go about their work amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The PPEs are meant to inspire our healthcare workers who have continued to sacrifice in the fight against COVID-19”  he said.

Igathe once again assuring the healthcare workers of the improved quality of the PPEs which are manufactured locally in factories such as Nakuru based Bedi Investment.

According to the Equity Group CEO, 99 percent of the PPEs are produced locally in various factories in the country.

This, he said is a way to ensure that not only matters health are considered but also improving local businesses.

“We are not only tackling health but also improving businesses and that is why we have the PPEs manufactured locally” he said.

He commended what he termed is macro leadership of the national government saying it is key in transforming the Society.

“As Equity Group we shall continue to complement the Government’s efforts in various sectors be it health or education” said Igathe.

Nakuru County Director Medical Services Dr.Daniel Wainaina who received the PPEs on behalf of the County Government of Nakuru called on residents to continue adhering to the COVID-19 containment measures.

He stated, “If we fail to observe the containment measures we shall end up overwhelmed as healthcare workers.”

Dr.Wainaina noted that the second consignment is key in the whole the battle against COVID-19.

He also lauded the frontline healthcare workers adding that despite Nakuru having been reporting high cases in the recent, the response from county healthcare workers is notch higher revealing that none of staff at isolation centres has contracted the virus.

Sentiments echoed by Nakuru Level 5 Acting Medical Superintended Aisha Maina.

Equity Group Foundation and the Kenya COVID-19 Fund Board have commenced the distribution of the second consignment of locally manufactured personal protective equipment (PPE) to public hospitals across all 47 counties.

All final year medical and dental students from 11 universities with medical and dental schools will also benefit.

This is part of its  sustained efforts to protect medics from the COVID-19 virus.

The consignment includes 266,000 respirator masks, 2.7 million 3- ply surgical masks, 50,000 reinforced disposable gowns, 2 million pairs of nitrile gloves, 60,000 pairs of medical scrubs, 50,000 coveralls with shoe covers, 300,000 head covers, 55,000 face shields, 34,000 pairs of goggles and 200,000 disposable aprons.

The consignment worth Ksh 125M will be  distributed to public hospitals.

While the consignment designated for final year medical and dental students is valued at Kshs 10M, bringing the total value of the consignment to Ksh 135M.

A total of 11 universities whose final year  students were recalled to complete their studies, include – University of Nairobi, Moi University, Kenyatta University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, Maseno University, Masinde Muliro University, Egerton University, Kenya Methodist University, Mount Kenya University and Uzima University will benefit from the PPEs.

They will be issued to the final year medical and dental students based on their needs.

Commenting on the exercise, Dr James Mwangi Equity Group Managing Director and CEO, who is also the Chair of the Kenya COVID-19 Fund Board Health Committee noted that both Equity Group Foundation and the Kenya COVID-19 Fund Board remain committed to fulfilling their promise of supporting the medical fraternity serving in public hospitals with  PPEs.

This,he said will safeguard health workers serving on the frontline in mitigating the COVID- 19 pandemic.

“With the escalating numbers of COVID-19 cases, it is critical that we protect our healthcare workers who continue to serve with fortitude. This second round of PPEs will equip even more of our healthcare workers. Now that the finalist medical students have resumed classes and clinical rounds, we felt that they too should be protected as they apply themselves in their last practical lap of training alongside their colleagues at the frontlines,” said Dr Mwangi.

Similar to the establishment of the Hospital Liaison Committees, the medical student associations in the various universities have come together to establish working committees led by students who are part of the Equity Leaders Program.

The working Committees will serve the primary purpose of managing and tracking the use of the PPEs as well as share feedback on the quality of the PPEs.

They will also identify the various needs that they may require support to ensure that they remain safe while serving Kenyans.

The Kenya COVID-19 Fund Board Chair, Jane Karuku reiterated the Fund’s commitment to remain at the forefront in strengthening COVID-19 mitigation measures.