Nairobi health workers have agreed to end their strike as soon as their irreducible minimums are met.
This comes after a meeting with Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union(KMPDU) officials, the NMS and county representatives chaired by Majority Leader Abdi Guyo on Monday.
Thuranira Kaugiria, the Nairobi secretary-general of KMPDU, said they will return to work if the County Public Service Board and the NMS provide a comprehensive insurance cover for doctors under the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and give a waiver on promotions.
“We are ready to call off the strike but for that to happen our bare minimums must be met. Most of these issues are actionable and can be done away with immediately,” said Mr Kaugiria.
“Unless doctors are covered by insurance and a waiver is issued on promotions, the strike will go on,” he told journalists after the meeting.
NMS Deputy Director-General Robinson Thuku said talks with the NHIF are underway and a solution will be reached by the end of this month.
“It is work in progress as we have received a proposal from NHIF. We have already engaged our human resource department to look into what is needed,” said Mr Thuku.
The board promised to write a letter to the Public Service Commission (PSC) on Tuesday regarding the promotions waiver. It said it had already promoted 100 out of 320 doctors.
“The remaining are doctors who need to be promoted through a competitive process as they need to progress through established cadres,” said acting chair Thomas Kasoa.
A follow-up meeting between the doctors’ and county officials will take place today.
