KMPDU jolted into action as more medics succumb to Covid-19
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has launched a campaign to demand for better welfare of health workers in Kenya.
Through their social media platforms, the campaign honours Dr Doreen Adisa who was the first doctor to succumb to Covid-19.
In their campaign, dubbed “#IamAdisa the frontline workers say that they need beds, equipment and to be provided with insurance.
“My health, my life as a doctor is no longer in my hands,” they say in the video clip that they have shared.
The doctors are urging the government to protect them and provide them with psychiatric services.
“It is time to ensure to secure their safety of front line workers. We lost Adisa, would you protect me. Am I next?”
According to the campaign, Adisa did everything she could but the disease still killed her. “As more people get infected health workers will be exposed.”
Dr Adisa, 38, was the first doctor to die of Covid-19 in Kenya after she was diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) after being admitted at the Aga Khan University Hospital.
Since her demise, 14 more health workers are among the 423 overall deaths recorded in the country.
At least 768 medics have tested positive for the virus as of August 10.
From the total infections, 363 are female health workers while 405 are male.
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said the death rate among health care workers has risen to 1.8 per cent from 1.6.
Kagwe, however, said that not all health care infections were contracted in the line of duty.
“All our health workers, just like me and you live in a community and it’s possible for you to get it even in the village not necessarily in the hospital,” he said.
The CS said the availability of Personal Protective Equipment is as important as their proper utilisation.
Last week it emerged that Kenya’s capital city is one of the most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, may be facing a disaster.
The National Nurses Association of Kenya (NNAK) and the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) have warned that it will soon be hard for the public to get health services as more medics contract the virus.