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Kenyan head appeals to doctors to end strike

Kenya

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged doctors and nurses to end their strike which entered its third day on Wednesday.

Several patients have died in public hospitals, where no minimum service is provided, according to hospital sources. Others were directed to private hospitals, which majority of the population can not afford.

“Good faith requires people to understand that we do not put the lives of our fellow Kenyans at risk, especially when there is an atmosphere where dialogue is already ongoing. Let us partner together, we will find a solution, but please let us not allow the innocent citizen to suffer, who has nothing to do with the problem,” Kenyatta said while visiting a hospital in Eastern Kenya.

Some 5,000 doctors, nurses, pharmacists and dentists have triggered a national strike after Sunday’s failed negotiations between unions and government on wage increases.

The unions are calling for a four-fold increase in doctors ‘salaries, and a 25-40% increase in nurses’ salaries, which were registered in 2013 by a collective bargaining agreement that has never been applied since.

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