Doctors have called on the government to walk the talk and put in place frameworks for the formation of a Health Service Commission.
The Kenya Kwanza government in their campaign manifesto had promised to ensure a commission is formed to look into the various issues ailing the health sector in the country.
But more than six months after forming the government, that is yet to be implemented.
"We need the salaries aspect to be sorted and that's why we say we need a health service commission," Atellah said.
"It was the manifesto of the government, this is high time that we have it implemented to safeguard the service provisions in the facilities in the counties so that we do not have interruptions."
Healthcare unions have associated perennial strikes in the health sector often due to salary delays and failure by the government to honour various collective bargaining agreements, with a lack of a centralised body that will bring various stakeholders together to address the grievances of health workers.
As of March 16 for instance, more than 35 counties were yet to pay their healthcare workers their February salaries due to the delay by the National Treasury to release funds to counties.
Despite this, the health unions have raised concerns that other workers in the country continue to receive their dues on time and that government functions have continued uninterrupted.
"Please walk the talk. This was in their manifesto, and we agreed we need to streamline how to work around healthcare workers and to have one body that can take care of all the healthcare workers," pharmaceutical technologist SG Elius Mutuma said.
"We will be forced to mobilize our members and if the government waits till we mobilize our members across the country the people will suffer."
The unions have been fighting for a centralized body anchored in the constitution that would handle all matters within healthcare as a solution to the problems facing the health sector in the country.
This, they said, is the only way to reinvigorate the ailing healthcare sector.
The union has maintained that strengthening universal public health systems is crucial in the full realization of the right to health adding that government is yet to empower decentralized levels to effectively cater for the needs of people at the grassroots level.
Last month, President William Ruto pledged to ensure 4000 doctors are hired to ensure access the healthcare by Kenyans.
The President had met with officials from the doctors’ union at State House to discuss the Kenya Kwanza health agenda.
