- Services in public hospitals have been disrupted by the ongoing countrywide doctors' strike.
- Wanjiku's due date was Friday last week. She's worried about her safety and that of her unborn child.
Image: JOHN KAMAU
Image: JOHN KAMAU
Jacinta Wanjiku, an expectant mother from Igegania village in Gatundu North, is at a crossroads on where to deliver her child.
Services in public hospitals have been disrupted by the ongoing countrywide doctors' strike.
Wanjiku's due date was Friday last week. She's worried about her safety and that of her unborn child.
Accompanied by her sister Jane Mumbi, she visited Igegania Level 4 hospital, where she has been attending her clinics on Monday hoping to get help but was shocked to find that no medical staff was around to attend to her.
The hospital’s maternity wing ceased operations. Patients in wards were released to their families.
Wanjiku said she has no money or medical cover to seek services in a private hospital.
"I had placed my hopes on the Linda Mama programme to safely deliver my child. I am worried because there are no doctors to treat me, yet I'm already due for delivery. I am financially strained and cannot cater for the services at a private facility," she said.
"A neighbour has advised me to seek the services at a private hospital in Thika. I will visit the facility even though I don’t have the money that might be required," she said.
Her sister, Mumbi, said the family doesn't know what to do as the doctors' strike was proving to be too costly for poor Kenyans.
"We've never witnessed such a crisis where there are no services at Igegania hospital. We are suffering and most patients are staring at death due to lack of medical services," she said.
Mary Wanjiku from Kamwangi village she had been forced to rely on over-the-counter drugs to take care of her ailing mother.
For the past two weeks, they have not received medical care at the public hospital and have no money to take her to a private facility. She has been visiting the hospital hoping to the doctors would resume work.
Wanjiku called on President William Ruto to break his silence over the crisis in the health sector.
"We woke up very early to elect our leaders yet they are silent as we suffer due to the strike. It's high time the government heeded to the doctors' demands so that they can resume their jobs. Most of us cannot afford the costly medical services in private hospitals," Wanjiku said.
Kimani Gachihi, an administrator at Igegania hospital, said outpatient and inpatient services have ground to a halt. Special clinics for diabetes, hypertension and eye ailments are closed.
The hospital serves about 500 patients daily.
"We are pleading with the relevant authorities including the Council of Governors and the presidency to sit with the doctors' union and solve the impasse for normalcy to be restored. Our people are suffering," Kimani said.