The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Nakhumicha Wafula, has strongly condemned acts of assault on healthcare workers, stating that perpetrators will face legal consequences.
This comes after a healthcare provider at Port Victoria Sub County Hospital in Busia was verbally and physically assaulted.
“Act of violence against our healthcare workers are not only reprehensible but intolerable. Healthcare workers deserve our utmost respect as they are the backbone of our healthcare system.”
“This recent case of assault on a healthcare worker is not just an attack on an individual; it is an assault on the entire healthcare system and the principles that guides it,”she stated.
Therefore,the incident is a reminder of the need to respect healthcare workers, who tirelessly work to ensure citizens’ well-being.
In a recent study conducted
Researchers from Aga Khan University and other institutions, titled,
“Violence Against Healthcare Workers:ViSHWaS a Cross-Sectional Sub-analysis across the Kenya Region,”
it was revealed that nearly half of healthcare workers in Kenya have experienced violence.
Verbal and emotional abuse common
Verbal and emotional abuse were reported as the most common forms of violence-
with a small percentage also facing online harassment.
Among the 1,458 healthcare workers involved in the study, 49.9 per cent reported experiencing violence.
Statistics analysis
Shockingly, 80.6 per cent reported verbal violence, while 78.6 per cent suffered from emotional abuse.
Patients or their relatives were identified as the primary aggressors, accounting for 44.7 per cent where supervisors followed at 12.5per cent.
Expressing concern over the ongoing violence
CS Nakhumicha emphasized the government’s commitment to ensuring the safety and security of healthcare professionals.
Violence against healthcare workers, she stressed, is not only reprehensible but also intolerable.
“Assaulting a healthcare worker not only endanger their lives but also disrupt the vital services they provide to other patients and the community,”CS said.
Assault in healthcare system
The assault on the healthcare worker was seen as an attack on the entire healthcare system and its guiding principles.
CS Nakhumicha commended the healthcare worker for their composure during the incident.
“They work tirelessly sometimes under challenging conditions to ensure the well-being of all citizens across different hospital levels,”she added.
She urged healthcare seekers to maintain civility in their interactions.
Additionally,she reminded the public that healthcare workers are frontline heroes, providing vital services under challenging conditions.
Any act of violence against them undermines the healthcare infrastructure and is disheartening.
“They are our frontline heroes who work under high-demanding environments to deliver standard healthcare services to patients from all walks of life. To have this dedication met with violence is disheartening and erodes the fabric of our healthcare infrastructure,” she said.
However,in response to the study’s findings and the recent incident, CS Nakhumicha called for respectful interactions between the public and healthcare providers.
She urged all stakeholders to work together to strengthen and maintain a robust healthcare system-
emphasizing that violence against healthcare workers will not be tolerated.
“I want to commend the medic involved for displaying such remarkable composure and professionalism during the incident. We cannot understate the importance of maintaining civility while interacting with healthcare workers,”she said.
Thus, the government remains committed to ensuring the safety of healthcare professionals.
