Stecy Atieno

Nurses demonstrating during their43 day strike.[File-Standard] Healthcare professional associations have called for urgent recovery of health services following the end of the 43-day nurses’ strike. The associations said nurses were returning to facilities across the 47 counties, but urged managers to prioritise clearing service backlogs and attending to patients whose care was delayed during the strike.

Services in public hospitals were gradually returning to normal even as families who lost their loved ones because of the strike blamed the national government for the paralysis witnessed during the nurses' strike. The 43-day strike disrupted hospitals in many counties, leading to deaths and suffering of patients who were caught off guard. Families that lost their kin blamed the government for its stand-off with nurses.

Nurses strike.[File, Standard] Kenya’s nurses have called off their 43-day nationwide strike after the Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives (KNUNM) and the Council of Governors agreed on a return-to-work formula. KNUNM Secretary General Seth Panyako officially called off the strike on Wednesday and directed nurses to resume duty immediately, and within 24 hours at the latest.