Cabinet Secretary for Health Susan Nakhumicha has condemned the assault meted on healthcare workers saying the perpetrator of such acts will face the full force of the law.
This follows a viral incident in which a student was recorded attacking healthcare workers at Port Victoria Sub County Hospital in Busia.
The CS while commenting on the incident said such actions of violence against health providers are intolerable.
She said healthcare workers deserve the utmost respect as they are the backbone of the healthcare system.
"They work tirelessly –sometimes under challenging conditions to ensure the well-being of all citizens across different hospital levels," Nakhumicha stated.
“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 guide it," she added.
The CS was speaking while at St. Mary's Mission Hospital in Kakamega County.
"Assaulting a healthcare worker not only endangers their lives but also disrupts the vital services they provide to other patients and the community,” she noted.
Nakhumicha lauded the move by the healthcare workers at the facility to remain calm despite the attack.
“I want to commend the medic involved for displaying such remarkable composure and professionalism during the incident," she said.
"We cannot understate the importance of maintaining civility while interacting with healthcare workers."
She went on to call upon health workers across the country to remain firm and act professionally when dealing with patients.
"Healthcare workers are our frontline heroes who work under high-demanding environments to deliver standard healthcare services to patients from all walks of life," she said.
"To have this dedication met with violence is disheartening and erodes the fabric of our healthcare infrastructure,” she said.
A recently published study by researchers from, among other institutions, Aga Khan University titled Violence Against Healthcare Workers, a CrossSectional Sub-analysis across the Kenya Region found that approximately half of the healthcare workers in Kenya reported experiencing violence.
The most common forms of violence are verbal and emotional abuse, with a small percentage reporting online harassment.
The study which sampled 1,458 healthcare workers in Kenya found that approximately half (49.9%) reported experiencing violence, with verbal violence (80.6%) and emotional abuse (78.6%) being common.
Patients or their relatives were the most common aggressors (44.7%), while supervisors accounted for 12.5%.
CS Nakhumicha cautioned against continued violence against healthcare workers, calling for mutually respectful engagements between the public and healthcare workers.
“Violence against healthcare workers will not be tolerated and any person culpable of such an act will be apprehended and face the full wrath of the law," she said.
"The government remains resolute in its commitment to ensuring the safety and security of our healthcare professionals across the country. I call for mutually respectful engagements between members of the public and healthcare givers as we continue to build and maintain a robust health system.”