Duale appoints probe team on organ transplant practices, targets Mediheal

The Ministry of Health has set up an independent committee to investigate alleged malpractice and illegal activity in Kenya’s tissue and organ transplant services, with particular focus on the Mediheal Group of Hospitals.

In a gazette notice dated Wednesday, April 23, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced the formation of the Independent Investigative Committee on Tissue and Organ Transplant Services, chaired by Prof. Elizabeth Bukusi.

“It is notified for general information of the public that the Cabinet Secretary for Health has constituted a committee to be known as the Independent Investigative Committee on Tissue and Organ Transplant Services,” read the gazette notice.

The committee includes 12 other members and a three-member secretariat.

The committee will investigate the legal, ethical and clinical status of transplant practices across Kenya’s hospitals and examine whether facilities, including Mediheal, have complied with national regulations and standards.

According to the notice, the team has been tasked to “undertake a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations of illegal organ transplant and organ trafficking at Mediheal,” including a review of clinical records and donor-recipient consent documentation for the past five years.

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The committee will also audit governance structures at Mediheal, scrutinise the hospital’s renal transplant ethics committee and examine whether tissue or organs have been shipped abroad without proper authorisation.

The Health ministry said the committee will interview patients, donors, surgeons and hospital administrators.

It will also assess whether Kenya’s laws were breached through commercialisation, coercion or trafficking of organs.

The team will recommend legal or policy reforms and propose measures to prevent malpractice or criminal conduct. The committee will serve for three months.

In a separate notice, the ministry also announced the establishment of the Benefits Package and Tariffs Advisory Panel under the Social Health Insurance Regulations, 2024.

 Prof. Walter Jaoko was named chairperson, while Dr. Patrick Amoth was appointed under a separate provision.

The panel will advise the Health ministry on benefits packages under the new social health insurance scheme.