The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary-General Davji Atellah has revealed that another medical doctor intern who was attached to the Thika Level 5 Hospital has died.
In a statement on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, Atellah indicated that the medical intern doctor who has since been identified as Francis Njuki Gashimo took his own life.
“Another intern doctor has tragically taken his own life this morning, a heartbreaking outcome of relentless workplace frustrations under a government that seems indifferent,” Atella said.
Adding: “Four months of working over 36-hour shifts without pay can break even the strongest among us. Our hearts ache as the medical fraternity mourns for our younger brothers and sisters. We shall not take this anymore.”
Njuki was a pharmacist at the Thika Level 5 Hospital at the time of his demise which comes barely two months after another medical intern doctor Desree Moraa was found dead in her fourth-floor apartment in Gatundu where she worked as an intern at the Gatundu Level 5 Hospital.
“This morning, we woke up to the sad news that we had lost another intern doctor to suicide. Dr. Francis Njuki was until his demise a pharmacist at Thika level 5 where he had worked since August 2024 with no salary,” a statement from KMPDU said.
Adding: “This now brings the total number of intern doctors whom we have lost to suicide to 2 in 2 months, and I am aware of 5 who have attempted suicide and were rescued and hospitalized. Their crime was choosing a career in medicine.”
Moraa’s body was found dangling from a rope and a note was found beside her at the time of the incident which sent shockwaves across the medical fraternity.
The medics decried the working conditions that medical intern doctors were subjected to, observing that the meagre pay and the long shifts they worked were responsible for the deaths.
Working conditions
Medical intern doctors voiced their concerns about the tragic loss of the 27-year-old Moraa in September, noting that several other interns were enduring similar hardships brought about by poor salaries, delayed pay and emotional stress.
In their statement, KMPDU demanded the immediate payment of medical intern doctors, stating that they would conduct a presser on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, to provide a way forward.
“We say that enough is enough and tomorrow the 27th day of November we shall address a press conference about our next steps. We have given the government more than 6 months to solve this problem as ordered by the courts but it is clear that our calmness is being misconstrued for weakness. The time for empty promises is over and we demand an end to this culture of lies,” KMPDU stated.
