Revelation of illegal organ trade exposes ailing health sector

Health CS Aden Duale at Parliament on October 5, 2023. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The latest revelations from Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale on the Mediheal Hospital organ trafficking scandal are disturbing and chilling. They highlight serious malpractice within Kenya’s health system and expose dangerous government negligence.

The Ministry of Health was aware of "serious concerns" as early as December 2023, and a multidisciplinary team was formed to investigate. However, the findings were never submitted for action due to internal dissent and procedural delays.

This inaction, in the face of credible allegations involving life-saving medical procedures like kidney transplants, is not just negligent. It’s dangerous. Such procedural lapses are not just technical failures — they’re moral ones.

Kenya’s health system has a pattern of ignoring early warnings. Consider the botched cancer diagnostics scandal in 2019, when faulty equipment at major hospitals went unchecked for months, leading to delayed treatments and needless deaths. The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority Covid-19 procurement scandal, where billions meant for protective gear and medical supplies were misappropriated, even after whistleblowers had raised flags early on. 

In both cases, the ministry only took action after public outrage and media investigations forced their hand. When ministry officials fail to act swiftly on credible reports, they compromise not just service delivery but public safety.

In the Mediheal case, vulnerable patients may have suffered while a damning report languished in limbo. The comprehensive audit of kidney transplants and review of foreign medical licences signal a turning point, but they also serve as an admission of a lack of oversight. The ministry must institutionalise urgency, integrity, and accountability.

These repeated lapses erode public trust in our health institutions. For patients, it is a cruel gamble — can they trust the system to protect them? For healthcare professionals who strive to uphold ethical standards, these failures are demoralising and frustrating. Investigations must be swift, and reports must be acted upon. Whistleblowers must be protected and taken seriously.

If we normalise delays and bureaucracy in healthcare, we are normalising preventable harm and unnecessary deaths. This is not just about rogue hospitals or negligent doctors, it’s a system that allows critical warnings to be swallowed by bureaucracy. It’s about lives put at risk while officials debate paperwork.

The ministry has been slow to act on credible concerns, letting risks escalate into crises. The consequences of inaction are borne by ordinary Kenyans seeking care, often in their most vulnerable moments.