KMPDU raises red flag over unemployment of graduate doctors
The National Secretary General and Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union CEO Dr Davji Bhimji Atellah speaks during a Science Media Café in Nairobi on September 9, 2022.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has appealed to the incoming government to prioritise the hiring of thousands of doctors.
At least 1,000 doctors graduate every year from universities across the country.
The majority of the doctors graduate from the University of Nairobi Medical School, Moi University, Kenyatta University, Egerton University, Maseno University and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Medical School.
Other universities offering medicine include Kenya Methodist University Medical School, Mount Kenya University Medical School, Uzima University School of Medicine, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology School of Medicine and Kisii University School of Medicine.
The National Secretary General and the chief executive officer at KMPDU Davji Bhimji Atellah said the latest statistics at the union show that more than 5,000 doctors have so far graduated but are unemployed.
"Many doctors who have graduated have opened up the business of kiosks to sell mandazi (snacks) and other things. Those who are lucky to get jobs have turned into nomads and are hopping from one hospital to another in search of permanent jobs," said Dr Atellah.
He blamed county governments for failing to employ doctors.
"There is an urgent need for the incoming government to prioritise healthcare delivery by ensuring doctors, dentists, clinical officers, nurses and other cadres of healthcare are employed," said Dr Atellah.
He said the national and county governments should ensure that health facilities are equipped with modern medical equipment.
Dr Atellah raised a red flag over the increasing number of trained doctors who have opened up businesses not related to their training owing to lack of jobs.
He was speaking during a Science Media Café organised by the Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA) held at Ngong Hills Hotel in Nairobi on Friday.
"We observe the trend where governors and Ministry of Health officials do routine visits. They need to ensure there is service provision and not just buildings. The Ministry of Health is entrusted with capacity building and there is a need for the Ministry to hire 2,000 doctors and boost the county governments' health care systems," he added.
The caution by KMPDU on devolved chiefs comes days after Homa Bay governor Gladys Wanga warned health workers who steal and sell medicine from public health facilities that their days are numbered.
The governor said most hospitals in the county faced acute drug shortages due to pilferage perpetuated by rogue medics who steal medicine and sell them in private clinics.
However, Dr Atellah said the solution lies in the county governments making their constitutional contributions to the health care sector as enshrined in the Constitution by equipping hospitals to ensure they offer quality services to the residents.
He said this will only be possible if counties raise the health docket budget to about 50 per cent of the total estimates annually.
He said that Universal Health Care (UHC) which is anchored in National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), might not work as 80 per cent of NHIF refunds goes to the private sector.
"This kind of arrangement will force many people to dig deep into their pockets to get essential and critical services that might not be readily available in public hospitals. There is a need to ensure the service provision in public Level Five Hospitals is at par with those in private hospitals so that health care delivery can work across the country without any discrimination," he added.
In the 2022/2023 budget the Health ministry received an allocation of Sh146.8 billion out of which Sh62.3 billion was allocated towards the funding of Universal Health Coverage, an increase from Sh47.7 billion allocated towards UHC programmes in the 2021/2022 budget.
Dr Atellah said that investment in healthcare will resolve many economic challenges facing the country including higher levels of unemployment, nutrition and costly perennial strikes by health workers.
According to KMPDU the ratio of doctors to patients in Kenya stands at 1:17,000 against a World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of 1:1,000.
He called on the two levels of government to increase the healthcare budget allocation by at least 10 per cent to make it easy for all Kenyans to access healthcare.
In 2022/2023 the health sector was allocated Sh146 billion out of the Sh3.31 trillion budget which translates to 4.41 per cent which is far below the Abuja Declaration of 2001 where African governments committed to allocate 15 per cent of their budget to health care.
