Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, on Monday, December 7, called out doctors after they threatened to down their tools over what they termed as poor working conditions.
Raila was speaking after meeting Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o and his Kakamega counterpart Wycliffe Oparanya in Kisumu on the upcoming Africities Summit.
The ODM Party Leader noted that doctors made an oath to protect the lives of people and added that the country is currently going through a pandemic.
"All I want to do is to appeal to our doctors to be more understanding. We are in a crisis at the moment, people are dying, it's not only doctors who are dying.
"We are in a dire situation as the economy is hurting during the Covid-19 pandemic," he noted.
Raila asked doctors to become more realistic with their demands adding that other professions such as Teaching are also affected.
The former Prime Minister also cited the decision by Senate Standing Committee to form a new Health Service Commission that would focus on the plight of health workers.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMDU) had issued a notice two weeks ago, threatening to mobilise its members to strike on Monday, December 7, unless the government meets their demands.
KMPDU's acting Secretary-General Chibanzi Mwachonda on Sunday night announced that the strike had been suspended for 14 days to allow for dialogue.
Despite doctors calling off their strike the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) and the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) downed their tools.
The situation led to a number of patients from various parts of the country to miss out on medical services as they were turned away from hospitals.
