Mediheal Group of Hospitals has defended the integrity of its kidney transplant program, stating that all 476 procedures conducted between 2018 and 2025 were legal and ethical.
The hospital has stated that the procedures followed legal and ethical standards outlined in Kenya’s Health Act and international guidelines.
In a detailed statement released on Sunday, June 8, the hospital explained that all organ donations were voluntary, with no evidence of coercion or commercialisation.
Further, the hospital added that each donor-recipient pair came to the facility already matched, and Mediheal was not involved in linking patients to donors, a practice considered illegal and unethical in many countries.
“All transplants were conducted in full compliance with Section 80 of the Health Act, 2017, which requires that organ donations be made voluntarily,
“We also ensured that donors were medically fit to give kidneys and that recipients were properly assessed and counselled before surgery,” said Dancel Njoroge N’gang’a, Deputy Operations Manager at Mediheal.
Also Read: Duale Shuts Down Mediheal Kidney Transplant Services
Mediheal Lists Statistics on Kidney Procedures Conducted
According to Mediheal, out of the 476 transplants performed, 372 were conducted on Kenyan patients.
The rest were performed on patients from other countries including Israel (62), Uganda (11), Somalia (7), Burundi (7), DRC (7), South Sudan (3), Germany (3), Tanzania (2), the U.S. (1), and Oman (1).
Moreover, Mediheal said that most foreign patients entered Kenya on medical visas approved by both Kenyan authorities and their countries of origin.
“To the best knowledge of Mediheal, there is no case of a non-African patient receiving a Kenyan, or even an African Kidney.
“Most non-Kenyan patients came to Mediheal with a Medical Visa. The fact of the Visas shows that both the sending Country and Kenya were aware of the visit, and the medical purpose of the kidney transplant,” added the hospital.
Addressing public concern over possible donor exploitation, Mediheal clarified that no non-African patient has ever received a kidney from an African donor at their facility.
Also Read: List of Approved Kidney Transplant Centers in Kenya
Success Rates at the Hospital
Also, the hospital reported a 98% survival rate within 30 days of transplant and a 93% survival rate at the five-year mark. On the other hand, graft survival rates were recorded at 95.8%, with only eight cases of acute rejection reported over five years.
The hospital attributed these outcomes to what it calls “state-of-the-art matching infrastructure, indicating that it uses fourth-generation genetic and HLA matching tools, technology unmatched elsewhere in Africa.
Mediheal charges Ksh3,225,000 ($25,000) for African patients and 4,515,0000 ($35,000) for non-African patients, a cost lower than the estimated $150,000 cost for similar procedures in Western countries.
The hospital also noted that its transplant procedures have been reviewed by several oversight bodies, including the Ministry of Health’s Tissue Transplant and Blood Transfusion Committee, the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI), and Moi University’s Institute of Research and Ethics Committee.
In December 2024, Parliament’s Health Committee also visited the facility as part of its oversight work.
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