We haven't received any formal communication from MoH – Mediheal Hospital

Mediheal Group of Hospitals Vice President Maryline Limo has denied receiving any formal communication from the Ministry of Health regarding the findings of an investigation into alleged organ trafficking.

Speaking during an interview with Spice FM on Wednesday, Limo said she had not received any report but said she would have to confirm with the board of directors.

“We have not received any formal communication from them (MoH), it is just this press release that came in yesterday,” she said.

“But we are working well with the government.”

At the same time, Limo said the hospital is not responsible for providing kidney donors, stating that they encourage organ recipients to come with their relatives as possible donors.

On Tuesday, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale confirmed that the MoH is investigating Mediheal Hospital in Eldoret over allegations of organ trafficking involving foreign kidney donors.

This followed a complaint from the Transplantation Society, via a letter dated July 20, 2023, which raised concern over a rising number of Israeli nationals receiving kidney transplants in Kenya.

To look into the matter, the Ministry formed a special team of experts. This included doctors, transplant specialists, ethicists, government officials and medical regulators.

The team carried out an investigation between December 5 and 8, 2023.

Their focus was to check whether the claims were true, inspect how transplant services were being run at the hospital and recommend next steps.

The hospital under review had official permission to perform kidney transplants.

Over five years, Mediheal had done 372 transplants—mainly for patients from Kenya and East Africa, and a few from countries like Israel, the US and the UK.

The team found that while all kidney donations reviewed had consent forms, there were gaps. In some cases, it was not clear how the donor and recipient were related. Some medical tests were also done in India without Ministry approval.

The findings also revealed that the hospital performed high-risk transplants, including one involving a patient with confirmed prostate cancer and proceeded with some procedures despite poor donor-recipient compatibility.

Duale noted that the team made recommendations aimed at strengthening Kenya’s transplant system.

They proposed an urgent need for the Ministry to implement national standards and regulatory frameworks to curb organ trafficking and transplant tourism.

The team also proposed creating a centralised registry for all transplant services and urged for better documentation and verification processes, especially for foreign nationals seeking transplants in Kenya.