The first reported death from coronavirus of a doctor in Kenya has highlighted the dangers that medics in Africa are facing. Doreen Adisa Lugaliki, succumbed to the novel coronavirus disease just hours after she was admitted to Aga Khan Hospital early Friday.

In her late 30s, Lugaliki was the first doctor in Kenya to succumb to Covid-19, and the third healthcare worker after two nurses in the country. More than 361 healthcare workers in Kenya have tested positive for the virus.

Kenyan Healthcare workers had complained in April about the lack of protective equipment. In response, President Uhuru Kenyatta instructed that part of the 5 billion Kenyan Shillings ($47 million) released from the country’s Treasury, be used to create a “welfare package” to cushion healthcare workers against any negative consequences of coronavirus exposure. Kenyatta said he recognised “the critical importance of health, mental and emotional needs of our frontline medical doctors, nurses and other medical professionals”. The money, however, was only released last week.

Meanwhile, Lukoye Atwoli, a professor of psychiatry, said there was “morale injury” amongst healthcare workers resulting from having to make decisions such as which patients get to use the scarce resources available, such as ventilators. He said, “There are no guidelines to help them with this decision of choosing who dies and who lives, and then there is no support after that.” The Kenya Medical Association reported increased drug abuse and depression amongst doctors.

There are concerns about what kind of protection medics in Africa are receiving, not just in Kenya. The BBC reports that Union officials representing healthcare works across Africa say the rise in new infections among their members is due to a lack of adequate PPE and proper infection prevention control measures in hospitals.

Umm Muhammed Umar