Leaders of an umbrella body representing intern doctors have urged members to down their tools in solidarity with one of their own who died by suicide yesterday morning.

Dr Francis Njuki Gashimo, a budding pharmacist at Thika Level Five Hospital in Kiambu county, is said to have given up on life because he was unable to meet his basic needs.

Like many of his colleagues, he could not pay his rent and utility bills.

The Internship Liaison Committee (ILC) revealed that four months of unpaid wages had taken a toll on him.

“Overwhelming financial constraints have adverse effects on general mental well-being,” ILC chairman Dr Muinde Nthusi and secretary general and Dr Elisha Harry Otieno said in a condolence letter circulated on social media yesterday.

‘Dire circumstances’

Gashimo’s death prompted the ILC to instruct its more than 1,000 doctor interns to stay away from duty.

“With these dire circumstances in mind, we hereby call upon all doctor interns – medical officers, pharmacists and dentists across the country, those in public health facilities, community and industrial practice relations, and other major referral hospitals – to withdraw their services from their respective internship centres indefinitely until a satisfactory resolution regarding compensation is reached,” the ILC letter said.

As they mourned their departed colleague, the ILC officials demanded that intern doctors be paid immediately. “Our demand is simple and unequivocal: pay doctor interns now.”

Gashimo’s death is the second such incident in recent months. In late September, Dr Desree Moraa Obwogi, a medical intern, was found dead on the balcony of her apartment in Gatundu, Kiambu county. She was reported to have taken her own life over her working conditions.

“We must ask: how many more lives must we lose before decisive action is taken?” the ILC officials said.

These two incidents were not isolated cases, said Nthusi and Otieno.

“It starkly highlights the urgent need for the Ministry of Health and the government to confront the negligence and inconsiderate treatment of doctor interns – individuals who constitute a significant portion of the healthcare workforce in public facilities,” they wrote.

They noted that the loss of Moraa was still fresh in the minds of Kenyans.

They described pronouncements from Health officials and others as mere rhetoric that was insufficient.
Long shifts

At the time Moraa died, medical interns argued that they contributed about 30 percent of labour in public health facilities, often enduring extended shifts exceeding 36 hours without adequate rest or meals.

“The mental health implications of such conditions cannot be overstated. We have witnessed too many lives lost to suicide over the years without any meaningful action from the relevant authorities,” the interns said.

“Also, the inhumane treatment some of us face from senior doctors and consultants is unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”

But their demands for compensation are yet to be met.