Ministry to audit transplant facilities after organ trafficking expose

The Ministry of Health has revealed plans to conduct audits at Mediheal Hospital in Eldoret and seven other transplant facilities to evaluate compliance after the recent exposé on organ trafficking.

In a statement on Tuesday, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the audits will be conducted following findings by a multidisciplinary team from the Ministry.

“The Ministry of Health will conduct a follow-up visit to the facility to assess progress on compliance and to conduct a comprehensive clinical audit. Additionally, similar audits will be extended to all seven transplanting facilities across the country to ensure uniform standards and adherence to national transplant regulations,” stated Duale.

The audit was conducted after the Ministry received a letter from the Transplantation Society dated July 20,  2023, with concerns over increased Israeli nationals receiving kidney transplants in Kenya.

Upon an onsite audit from December 5 to 8, the finding unearthed serious gaps in the transplant program bypassing health regulations.

The team established that the hospital, a licensed level 5 private facility, had performed 372 kidney transplants over five years, mostly for patients from Kenya and the East African region, with some from countries as far as Israel, Australia, Japan, the USA, and the UK.

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Findings further revealed that Mediheal had embraced the use of modern techniques, conducting 99 per cent of its surgeries laparoscopically and maintaining consent records for all sampled donors.

However, the facility could not verify the relationship between the donors and recipients as some of the donors were of different nationalities.

“All the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) tests that enable the distinction of “self” and 'non self” were done in India without the requisite approval of MOH for shipment of human samples outside the country,” added Duale.

The findings identified a language barrier between the donors and recipients who were non-English speakers.

Duale further noted that the facility conducted high-risk transplants even for a patient with prostate cancer and did not consider poor donor-recipient compatibility.

According to the report, Mediheal lacked morbidity and mortality reports and multidisciplinary team (MDT) committee meetings.

Following the findings, the Ministry has decided to develop national standards and guidelines to strengthen transplant services.

“The Ministry of Health to develop a legislative and regulatory framework to safeguard against organ trafficking and transplant tourism. National Standards and Regulatory Frameworks in transplant services will seal legal loopholes that can be exploited to allow for clandestine unregulated transplants,” said CS Duale.

All participants in the transplant process, including family members will now be documented to strengthen the donor recruitment process and consenting.

The team also recommended the establishment of a centralized registry for all transplant recipients and donors, especially foreign nationals, complete with verified documentation of their relationships.

They also pointed out a need for a centralised registry for all transplant services in the country.

In response, the Ministry has already developed transplant service guidelines and a draft policy on the use of blood, cells, tissues, organs, and other human substances awaiting validation.