Mediheal organ trade probe to commence today

Investigations into the alleged illegal organ transplants and trafficking at Mediheal Group of Hospitals is set to begin today.

The probe led by Departmental Committee on Health will commence a 90-day public inquiry into alleged malpractice and ethical breaches in kidney transplant services at the facility.

This comes after the government constituted a 13-member committee to investigate allegations of illegal organ transplants and trafficking following an exposé by international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).

The Committee formed by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale will be led by Prof. Elizabeth Bukusi which is expected to conduct a thorough probe into the claims and assess compliance across all health facilities offering transplant services in the country.

The task force has been mandated to investigate the legal and regulatory framework governing tissue and organ transplants in Kenya, examine compliance levels in all facilities offering such services, probe Mediheal Hospital’s adherence to ethical and legal transplant protocols, engage with donors, recipients, and medical professionals involved in transplants over the last five years and determine if there were cases of commercialisation, coercion, or breaches of the Human Tissue Act.

These developments come in the wake of serious claims that Mediheal has been harvesting kidneys from vulnerable Kenyans for Ksh 294,000 and selling them abroad for as much as Ksh 3.2 million.