About 100 patients climbed over the wall at the Mathari Teaching and Referral Hospital in Nairobi. Many reports linked the incident to the country-wide doctors’ and nurses’ strike that began on the same day. The fact is that even without the strike, the hospital was already understaffed, overcrowded, and underfunded. The whole country has only 88 psychiatrists.
This is the second time since 2013 that patients have run away from the hospital. The first time, about 30 patients broke out, complaining about overcrowding and overdosing. As was the case in 2013, the hospital once again asked the public to help take the patients back.