Mediheal Hospital Breaks Silence After Organ Trafficking Allegations
Days after the Deutsche Welle (DW) and German media ZDF claimed that an Eldoret-based private hospital is at the center of an international organ trafficking ring, the institution’s administrators responded.
According to this expose, Mediheal Hospital targets poor, desperate Kenyans and pays them 200,000 shillings for their kidneys.
— FERDINAND OMONDI (@FerdyOmondi) April 15, 2025
Then, they charge 23 million shillings for a transplant. https://t.co/K2TyauXdBS
Speaking on Spice FM’s morning show on Wednesday, April 16, the hospital’s vice president stated that all organ transplants at the facility are legal.
Furthermore, the vice president asserted that patients who come to the hospital for organ transplants are responsible for finding a donor, which she denies the hospital is involved in.
Maryline Limo on whether Deutsche Welle (DW) contacted Mediheal: DW didn't contact us but they tried contacting our chairman who was outside the country. DW had some people who came to the hospital to take photos, but they did not seek permission. I requested them to come back… pic.twitter.com/24TCT5vsdD
— KTN News (@KTNNewsKE) April 16, 2025
The vice president further denied reports that the hospital receives money from organ donors, emphasizing that the facility only receives money for services delivered to clients.
“We got allegations that there are some unprocedural transplants that are being done in our hospital, but what I would like to say is that all transplants conducted in our facility are strictly adhering to the law,” she said.
“We want to make it clear that patients come with their donors to the facility, and the hospital is not responsible for the sourcing and selection of donors,” she added.
“The clients come to the hospital, and the procedures are followed accordingly.”
Maryline Limo on why patients and their donors would come to Kenya for kidney transplants: We had 18 patients from Israel who came on medical visa to our facility. Not only Israeli nationals are coming, but we get patients from over 10 countries- UK, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda.… pic.twitter.com/UDYkMFd7lk
— KTN News (@KTNNewsKE) April 16, 2025
Maryline Limo, Vice-President-Operations- Mediheal on allegations of payment for organs at the hospital: Mediheal hospital is not part and parcel of that. The money which the facilities receives is from services rendered to clients#TheSituationRoom pic.twitter.com/Hq4CxnqOgA
— KTN News (@KTNNewsKE) April 16, 2025
According to the vice president, the facility also accepts overseas patients for organ transplants, which she attributes to the hospital’s high success record.
“Our success rate is 99 per cent, and it is known everywhere in this world, and that’s why I think the international press is trying to push us down,” she said.
In a statement released on Tuesday, April 15, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale stated that the ministry has been aware of suspicious behavior at the facility since 2023.
According to Duale, the ministry assembled a multidisciplinary committee that included kidney transplant doctors, an ethicist, and representatives from the Kenya Blood Transfusion and Transplant Services (KBTTS) Secretariat.
Additionally, the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), the Ministry of Health administration, and academic experts are also expected to investigate the matter in depth.
During the team’s first fact-finding trip to the hospital between December 5 and 8, 2023, they discovered that the hospital had performed 372 transplants over the previous five years.
The majority of the recipients are from the East African Community, Australia, Israel, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
According to the ministry, 99 percent of these were manufactured with new technology; nevertheless, the hospital did not have enough documentation to prove the relationship between donors and receivers.
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Some documents suggested that donors were of various nationalities.
Furthermore, the ministry alleged that all Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA), which are required for transplants, were manufactured in India without regulatory approval.
Currently, the ministry has confirmed that the team will conduct a follow-up trip to the facility to ensure compliance. Additionally, the ministry will conduct an audit of all the other kidney transplant facilities in the region.
1/2: PRESS RELEASE ON ALLEGED ORGAN TRAFFICKING AT MEDIHEAL HOSPITAL- ELDORET pic.twitter.com/R7NfSymMEz
— Ministry of Health (@MOH_Kenya) April 15, 2025
“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,” the statement read.
Mediheal Hospital Breaks Silence After Organ Trafficking Allegations
