Healthcare crisis: Patients die as State, counties keep wobbling

For six-year-old Emmanuel Kithinji, a snake bite should have been a medical emergency that demanded immediate attention.

Instead, his mother, Eunice Kapuria, is left mourning a child whose condition deteriorated as she moved from one hospital to another in search of treatment that never came by.

The boy was bitten by a snake on Sunday, July 12, 2026, while busking in the sun at their home.

He was rushed to Nanyuki County Referral Hospital. He arrived at the facility's emergency department at about 10 am.

But the emergency care the family expected did not come.

A health worker who was at the emergency department allegedly removed a piece of cloth tied around the boy's arm, which had been used in an attempt to slow the spread of the venom.

After removal, the employee directed Kapuria to seek referral because there were no health workers to manage the condition.  Antivenom was also not available.

In despair, Kapuria took his son to a private facility, only to find that the facility also did not have antivenom.

The mother was forced to search for the medicine elsewhere, as her son's condition worsened.

At around 1 pm, antivenom was brought, but it was too late to save the boy; he died at 1 pm.

“It saddens me because my son’s life would have been saved if he had received timely emergency treatment. The strikes are causing deaths,” Kapuria tells The Standard. “I wish we had a solution. Till when shall people die for action to be taken?

The boy’s death is reported amid national wide health workers' strike that has left a family grieving and exposed the painful consequences of a health system struggling to provide even basic emergency care.

At the same facility, Jane Wangari lost her father, Patrick Kimani, after he failed to receive care.

Kimani arrived at the hospital on Saturday, August 8, with chest pain and general body weakness.

At the facility, he was fitted with oxygen to support breathing having.

But the ongoing strike had severely disrupted services at the facility, according to the family. Tests were done in a private laboratory, with nobody to take care of Kimani.

As his condition deteriorated, he was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where he died on August 13, 2026.  He suffered pneumonia.

“All private facilities we contacted for referral of my father were full. At Nanyuki, there was only a single nurse, who did not know what to do single-handedly to save his life,” claims Wangari.

Wangari claims that at the facility, people continue to die because of a lack of care.

The two deaths expose the human cost of a health workers' strike that has left public hospitals across the country struggling to provide care, with patients being turned away, wards closed, and emergency services badly constrained.

Although doctors have largely remained at work, they say they cannot compensate for the absence of nurses and other cadres who are essential to a functional hospital.

“Nothing is happening in hospitals. Doctors cannot serve patients without nurses. Surgeries are not taking place across the country. It is chaotic,” KMPDU Secretary-General Dr Dennis Miskellah tells The Standard.

Doctors in Isiolo have been on strike for the past 79 days.

“We have to be honest. The state of health at the moment is 90 per cent in shambles,” adds a KMPDU official.

Across the country, the disruption is increasingly visible.

A spot check by  The Standard in several counties found patients being turned away and some hospital departments closed.

In Homa Bay County Referral Hospital, only wards three and four were functioning during the visit, with services being provided by workers contracted by the county government and non-governmental organisations.

Other wards, including the maternity wing, were locked.

In Mombasa, health services were disrupted in several facilities, including Mlaleo and Utange hospitals and Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Coast General, which receives referrals from across the Coast region, cancelled elective surgeries, while patients seeking other services were also turned away.

In Busia, services were also disrupted at Busia County Referral Hospital and Alupe Sub-County Hospital.

At Port Victoria Hospital, the gates were closed.

The striking force includes nurses and midwives, clinical officers, laboratory technicians, public health officers, and pharmaceutical officers, who are pushing for the signing and implementation of Collective Bargaining Agreements, including promotions and other employment-related demands.

Kenya Union of Nurses and Midwives Union (KUNMU) Secretary General Seth Panyako notes that nurses are protesting unresolved Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), delayed promotions and staffing shortages.

Nurses have been operating without a signed CBA since 2013, despite years of negotiations with the CoG and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

Nurses maintains will be keep off work until their CBA is signed.

“We have been pushing for a CBA, and in 2017, there was an agreement between doctors and CoG, which was honoured. We have an agreement with CoG and clinical officers, which has now been honoured. But when it comes to nurses, they do not want to honour anything that they promised nurses and had an agreement on,” regrets the official.

Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) chairperson Peterson Wachira says clinical officers across the country are on strike.

He regrets that despite the push on CBA, clinical officers have not been invited for any meeting to resolve their issues.

"It seems governors are not concerned," said Wachira.

Agreement by KUCO was to be implemented by adding some money on payslips by March, which CoG and SRC did not actualise.

“About 8 counties are yet to sign the clinical officers CBA. The agreement was to have the CBA signed by February 2, 2026,” says Wachira.

CoG took only 16 counties to SRC for signing.

The issue of UHC has also not been resolved. 

Though the Ministry of Health, through its Cabinet Secretary, Aden Duale, signed an agreement to have the employees put on permanent and pensionable contracts, there is laxity by counties to actualise this.

Counties, according to clinical officers, have remained dismissive and are trying to evade.

“These were automatic things, but they are now no longer automatic. Basic things that used to be automatic, we now have to go on strike for the same,” regrets Wachira.

But the Council of Governors disputes the scale of the disruption and the workers' account of the negotiations.

In a media town hall engagement held on Tuesday last week, CoG CEO Mary Mwiti said that by the time the Health Summit will be held this week on Tuesday and Wednesday, solutions for the strike will have been sort, and employees will get back to work.

Clinical officers, she said, already have their CBA and return to work formula signed, but there has to be concurrence by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), to agree on remuneration and allowances, for standardisation and harmony in the entire civil service.

Council of Governors chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi said maintaining the strike is illegal, and directed counties to take action against the striking force.

The strike is not new; it has persisted over the years, under devolved units, and the Kenya Kwanza administration.

Dr Miskellah says at least 90 per cent of health is devolved, but the docket is faced with poor health resource planning, county financing problems, staffing, promotions, recruitment, a wage bill that is at the ceilings and uneven distribution of health workers.

The doctors' union official accuses governors of giving greater attention to construction projects than improving the quality of care in existing facilities.

“Health is the most expensive social venture, but we are seeing counties having more cleaners, more drivers, more caretakers and more accountants than healthcare workers,” alleges Miskellah.

On his part, Wachira observes that at the moment, human resource management is ineffective because of 48 centres of management of human resource for health.

With such, human resource policies are not followed, and specialists are unevenly distributed, with some counties having adequate specialists while others face acute shortages.

“Specialists are a national asset. This means they should be available anywhere across the nation, regardless of where they belong. This can only be achieved by taking them to a central place,” says Wachira.

In a separate interview with The Standard, Prof Anyang Nyongo acknowledges that human resources have remained a big challenge over the years, and under President William Ruto’s administration.

“I think the problem has always been in human resources, the remuneration of health workers, because health workers are very important in our lives,” says Nyong’o.

Prof Nyong’o adds, “There are three needs of human beings-health, nutrition, security. So we must give much weight to health, and workers providing the services”

Apart from striking workforce, Community Health Promoters (CHPs) have also accused counties of delayed payment of their stipends.

According to the Governor, to avert persistent strikes, the national government should allocate counties more resources to handle issues of striking force.

With money, he observes that counties will be able to do instant promotions, employ more workers to handle the acute shortage, and offer medical covers, among other demands.

“The national government should just pay its bill. These people are not going to work without being remunerated. The national government knows the amount of money they give the counties, so let it be done,” adds Prof Nyong’o.

Additionally, Nyong’o notes that health is one of the issues the national government should take very seriously, “because health means life, and life means citizens”.

Nevertheless, there are calls for possible establishment of a Health Commission, just like teachers, the Judiciary and the police.

According to Miskellah, the commission will help address recruitment, deployment, promotions and remuneration, which have become recurring sources of conflict between health workers and county governments.

Asked whether reverting health services to the national government  would require a referendum, Miskellah said KMPDU would not oppose one if it was necessary to resolve the crisis.

“We do not mind having a referendum. Kenyans will have to determine what they want,” he said.

“If pushing for quality care for Kenyans and the welfare of health workers will require a referendum to revert services back to the national government, it is fine.”

On his part, Wachira proposes either moving health workers’ salaries from the recurrent budget to the development budget or using Article 189 of the Constitution to establish a joint authority through which counties can collectively manage human resources for health.

Under such an arrangement, the 47 county governments could establish an authority to manage health workers across counties and seek budgetary support from the National Treasury, he said.

The other option he observes is an amendment of the Constitution to reverse health functions to the national government.

“Health can be retained at counties, but human resources can be centralised for the 47 counties. The counties can therefore form an authority under Article 189 to manage all health workers across the 47 counties. This would require no referendum,” says Wachira.

The discussion to get a health commission arises as Kenya prepares to showcase its health achievements at the Health Summit, which opens this week.

Health workers, including doctors and clinical officers, have however, raised a concern of not having been involved.

“We have not been consulted to give our views, raise gaps and get solutions on healthcare. They have invited us just like guests? Poses Miskellah.

As Kenyans demand for care, Kenya is set to hold the Health Summit 2026, the first ever to be conducted, from tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18, to August 19.

The summit, scheduled to take place at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), shall be graced by President William Ruto.

Health is a key agenda under the Kenya Kwanza administration, with Universal Health Coverage (UHC) being the main agenda.

The summit, according to Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, will showcase physically and electronically the achievements of this administration within the last four years in the healthcare system.

“We shall give numbers and data, and we will also tell the country the opportunities available to make sure universality of health of the people of Kenya is achieved,” said Duale.

“And Kenya becomes number one in Africa and globally, and the best destination hub for health tourism in our region.”

During the summit, he said public, private, faith-based, and Level Six hospitals will showcase their achievements.

Also, the ministry shall show the challenges faced, and “here we are”, and provide the country with a roadmap for the two or three years remaining of Vision 2030, and where health will be placed in the new Vision 2063.

“I want to welcome Kenyans. We shall have a conversation; we shall listen to patients, we want to listen to healthcare providers,  healthcare professional associations and leaders, mama mboga, and everyone. Health is a right.”

There will also be a town hall meeting where President Ruto will be a moderator, with the health of the nation set to be discussed.

“The health of our nation has a direct correlation to productivity, education, and a healthier nation; our children will go to school, our citizens will go to work, our economy will grow,” he said.

Kenya, he said, is number two in terms of health.