Kenyan doctors studying family medicine in Cuba have had their salaries increased by three times.
Speaking during a media briefing in Nairobi on Wednesday, Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki has announced that the medics will now take home Sh144,000 per month, up from Sh50,800.
The government has hiked their pay after complaints of poor working conditions and remuneration.
Responding to demands by Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union (KMPDU) for the immediate recalling of the medics, CS Kariuki says the Ministry has sent officials to Cuba to access the welfare of the Kenyan doctors.
KPMDU says that the Kenyan-Cuba arrangement has left Kenyan doctors “vulnerable, frustrated, and in deplorable conditions.”
The doctors have constantly expressed their frustrations with the government for delaying or failing to pay for their expenses in the Caribbean country.
The suffering of the Kenyan medics in Cuba became evident after the death of Dr. Hamisi Ali Juma, who committed suicide in Havana over what is believed to be depression.
Juma was one of the 50 doctors in Cuba sponsored by the government to study Family Medicine as a specialization.
His family said he frequently lamented of poor working conditions and had expressed his will to return home.
A distress letter signed by 40 doctors in Cuba, including Juma, had been sent to Parliament’s Committee on Health before his death.
