Kenya’s health workers carry a burden heavier than many people realise. Behind the white coats and brave faces are nurses, doctors, clinical officers and other medics quietly battling burnout, depression and deep frustration. The warning signs are everywhere, yet the system remains largely unresponsive.
Medicine is demanding by nature. As reported in this newspaper today, many medics are into alcoholism, ending up in psychiatric ward beds and, sadly, early graves.
But the mental distress facing health workers today stems not just from long hours or clinical pressure. It is also rooted in systemic failures: understaffed hospitals, inadequate supervision, poor working conditions and an unclear future for many new graduates.
Interns are often posted to ill-equipped facilities where they carry workloads far beyond their level, with little support. Some face mistreatment from frustrated seniors, while others contend with job insecurity and, in some counties, even bribery for placement.
Mental health struggles among medics are not isolated incidents. They are the outcome of a neglected system. Without urgent structural reform, we risk losing not just the well-being of health workers, but the quality and integrity of care they provide to the public.
Training institutions must be held accountable to ensure realistic intake limits. Internship centres need strengthening, with fair distribution of senior staff for mentorship. A Health Service Commission could help standardise recruitment and insulate staffing from political interference.
Caring for patients begins with caring for those who serve them.
Quote of the day: “The day will come when man will have to fight noise as inexorably as cholera and the plague.” —German pioneering bacteriologist and Nobel laureate Robert Koch died on May 27, 1910
