AS HEALTH WORKERS AROUND THE GLOBE CONTINUE TO BATTLE COVID -19, A MAJORITY OF THEM LACK THE PROTECTIVE GEAR TO DO SO
It is ill-advised to carry a knife to a gun fight; and that by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. As cases of COVID-19 escalate around the country, physicians and other healthcare workers are facing severe shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE). This shortage is already a major crisis and will place an insurmountable strain on the health system of this country as cases continue to rise and more people require hospitalization for complications of Covid-19.
Apart from the majority of the populace which has ignored and/or failed to heed the government’s call for social distancing, it is not in question that the country’s legislators have been the other weakest link; in the fight against Covid-19. We commend H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta wherein on 25th March 2020, and in a bid to cushion every Kenyan from shocks arising from Covid-19 ordered that the National Treasury implements inter alia; 100% tax relief for persons earning a gross monthly income of up to Kshs. 24,000/=, reduction of Income Tax Rate (P.A.Y.E) from 30% to 25%, reduction of Resident Income Tax (Corporation Tax) from 30% to 25%, reduction of Turnover Tax rate from 3% to 1% for all micro, small as well as medium enterprises (MSMEs).
More importantly, when it comes to all the health workers and those in the front line; Kshs. one billion from the Universal Health Coverage kitty was directed to be immediately appropriated towards the recruitment of additional health workers to support in the management and spread of Covid-19. Additionally, the Ministry of Health, County Governments and the Public Service Commission were urged to expedite the recruitment process of more health workers.
How will the country flatten the curve if the first Covid-19 case was reported in Kenya on 13th March 2020; and to date, legislators are still fiddling and dragging their feet in relation to legislation cutting across issues arising from the control and prevention of spread of the virus. At the moment, and nearly a month later, Parliament will have its special sitting on Wednesday 8th April 2020, after much outrage and indignation from the people. The documents outlining business of the House during its special sitting on Wednesday 8th April, 2020 did not in any way refer to how the government will proceed to issue funds specifically for PPEs for both already engaged and soon to be deployed health workers.
The problem is quite widespread. In fact, and similarly, in the United Kingdom, the National Health Service also commenced a massive recruitment drive to help contain the corona virus pandemic. However, the same has been undermined by the prospect of doctors quitting over fears of inadequate protective equipment, groups representing front line staff say.
The United Kingdom’s Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, said on Tuesday 24th March 2020 that 11,788 retired National Health Service staff had agreed to return to work to help tackle the crisis. The travesty in this situation is being made far much worse as our men and women continue to brave the virus without the corrective gear, there appears to be no urgent push to ensure that those in the front lines are adequately protected and looked after.
The drafters of our Constitution under Article 28 set out that every person has inherent dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected. Additionally, under Article 41 of the Constitution, every person has the right to fair labour practices. In this case, health workers have the right to reasonable working conditions and they must be provided with protective gear when discharging their duties. We do hope that the plight of health workers across the country will be addressed sooner rather than later. This is a clarion call for action to be taken without any further delay. It is imperative that the government ensures that all health workers have access to PPEs and that legislation be enacted to ensure compliance with the same.
#PPEs #Covid-19 #CoronaVirus #Parliament
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