KIAMBU DISMISSES DEATH CLAIMS

Kiambu County has accused the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) of alarmist reporting of new-born deaths in the county during the ongoing doctors' strike.

In an interview with NTV on Tuesday, Kiambu County's Chief Officer for Health Services, Patrick Nyagah, termed figures reported by the union as "alarmist and inaccurate," accusing the reported figures of having been artificially inflated to create panic.

"One death is cause for concern. But when you look at these alarmist statistics, what you discover is that in every category, they have doubled the statistics. Where you notice 16, it was like eight. Where you notice six, it's like three. Malice is there in blowing up numbers where they don't exist," he declared
A few of the cases counted, in his view, were of patients who were already brought to hospital dead.
And, beyond that, he stated, "The figures that we are working with at this juncture are undoubtedly equal and comparable to the figures we had last year when we did not have strikes. The strike does not impact the figures,".

Dr Nyagah clarified even under usual circumstances, referral hospitals experience outcomes of neonatal deaths due to the nature of cases they handle.

"Even when there is no strike and bickering, we still incur some loss through referral centres. But someone made a selection of those numbers, added them up, and made it look like it's the issue of the past three months," he said.

Quoting Thika Level V Hospital, he stated that KMPDU had indicated 36 deaths of new-borns in September, whereas county records registered just 11.
That is three times the figure. And the 11 is not synthesised to the level of what was the cause of the death. Recall, Thika Level V is a referral centre. Those who come there, bodies that are transported, very sick children from other hospitals, and new births, all get registered," he explained.

Nyagah stated that Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) had sent a letter to the county on Monday evening and was set to visit Thika and Kiambu Level V hospitals to authenticate the information.

"I am praying that the truth would emerge," he continued.
KMPDU has been highly critical of the administration of Governor Kimani Wamatangi, citing county government failure to end a long standoff that has now run for more than three months.

The union holds the government responsible for breaching a return-to-work agreement signed last year and for disregarding the agony of residents who have borne the brunt of the health crisis.
On Monday, the union also criticized the Council of Governors (CoG) for what it termed an "indifferent and heartless" reaction to the crisis, holding the county bosses accountable for watering down deaths of 131 infants.

KMPDU secretary-general Davji Atellah responded that the union was "deeply shocked and outraged" at the CoG's description of the reports as "pure mischief" and "false publication.".