The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) has threatened to go on strike next month if the government does not send home the board of Social Health Authority (SHA).
The strike notice issued on Friday, November 29, makes this the second medical union to threaten to downtools this week. KUCO said it will down tools in three weeks if the government does not honour talks with them.
KUCO told the media yesterday after their Annual General Meeting (AGM) that they will withdraw their services starting December 23, over what they term as discrimination in the rollout of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), now rebranded to Taifa Care.
KUCO officials accused the SHA of locking their members from offering services under the new health model.
According to KUCO National Chairperson Peterson Wachira, top officials from the authority are to blame for the current crisis that has affected over six million Kenyans.
“We shall down tools on the 23rd of December if the board does not rescind its decision, and we shall be holding demonstrations every Monday to protest this discrimination,” he said.
He added, “The President has promised that the Universal Health Cover should work, but this can’t work in the manner that the Social Health Authority is carrying out the rollout.”
Wachira noted that the new SHA board had blocked clinicians from the list of service providers, yet they operate over 1,000 private facilities in the country. The union is said to have over 30,000 members with duties ranging from administrative to performing clinical evaluations of patients.
The KUCO boss, addressing the press in Naivasha, noted that the crisis started once the SHIF came into force. Wachira further warned that the health sector could collapse due to poor management by senior officers from SHA who had introduced a new funding model.
Their strike threat comes a day after the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) called on all intern doctors to withdraw their services over job frustrations, further threatening to demonstrate in December.
Today, Saturday, November 30, more than 600 medical professionals from across the country are set to gather at Safari Park Hotel for a Special Delegates Conference (SDC).
The meeting, organised by KMPDU, will focus on addressing grievances over unmet government commitments and unresolved issues in the healthcare sector.
