The Israeli Embassy in Nairobi has in the last two years received numerous official reports and handled tens of cases involving its nationals who lost their lives while undergoing illegal commercialised kidney transplants in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu county.
This is according to Israeli Ambassador to Kenya Michael Lotem who also oversees Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Seychelles.
“It all began two years ago when we first received a call from Eldoret that an Israeli 'tourist’ who had visited the country for a kidney transplant had been transferred to a Nairobi clinic after the illegal procedure went wrong and shortly after, he died,” Mr Lotem started in an exclusive interview with Nation on Wednesday.
"When Israeli nationals come here on a tourist visa and indicate that they are going to visit the Mara or Tsavo, we don't follow up to confirm that they actually went there. But ever since we have been getting more and more calls of Israeli nationals asking about getting kidney transplants in Kenya,” the ambassador said.
He went on: “As a result, we immediately sent official information back home to the Israeli police and our Ministry of Health alerting them of the many cases of Israelis sneaking into Kenya for commercialised transplantation, which is illegal in both Kenya and Israel.”
According to the Israeli ambassador, they also established that the success rate of the kidney transplants done in hospitals in Uasin Gichu is very low, thereby putting the lives of both donors and recipients in grave danger.
Mediheal Group of Hospitals founder Swarup Mishra.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
This is why they decided to urge their countrymen planning to visit Kenya for such an illegal activity to desist.
“To be honest, we don’t know how many Israeli nationals have been affected by this because we have lost count. What I know is that they could be more because to date we still get calls from Israeli nationals asking us about kidney transplant services that are being offered in Kenya, and we know some sneak in and hide to do it,” he said.
For the Israeli nationals who sneak in, the envoy said, they rarely let them know when things go wrong and so it is almost impossible to know the exact figures.
“We therefore have to keep reminding them that it is illegal,” Mr Lotem told Nation while urging Kenyan police to do more to nip the crime in the bud.
“In Israel, the police are very strict about such, a few years ago we had an almost similar issue with another country whose citizens were flocking in for illegal in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) services. Their strict approach and very tight laws helped us sort it out for good,” he explained.
The ambassador’s revelations came on the day Mediheal Group of Hospitals denied involvement in any organ trafficking syndicate and related commercial enterprise.
Mediheal founder Dr Swarup Mishra declared that he is ready to face the consequences if he is found guilty at the end of the investigations.
Dr Mishra and the hospital lawyers on Wednesday denied falsifying data and pairing up donors with recipients, or involvement in related financial transactions between them.
They declared their willingness to cooperate with all investigating agencies looking into the matter.
Lawyers Katwa Kigen, Conrad Maloba, Peter Oiboo, and Mark Mwaura flanked Dr Mishra and Vice President Maryline Limo during a press conference at the facility.
They said all medical procedures have been done in full compliance with the laws and standards that apply, both locally and internationally.
"Anxious to be understood"
They said there has not been any case of non-African foreigners receiving an organ from Kenyan or African nationals.
“We are anxious to be understood- we are transparent and ready to cooperate. All that Mediheal does is to provide medical care. We are not involved in any trafficking syndicate or criminal enterprise,” Mr Kigen stated.
“Even when people use the words trafficking syndicate, they don’t give substance to it, and we don’t understand why they link Mediheal,” he added.
They spoke as Dr Mishra maintained innocence in the alleged illegal trade of human organs, saying he was ready to face consequences if found guilty.
Former Kesses MP Dr Swarup Mishra. He has denied allegations of organ trafficking at Mediheal Hospital.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
The former Kesses MP said as a responsible citizen, he should have stepped aside as Kenya BioVax Institute Board chairman before the President suspended him when the allegations came up to give room to investigations. But he explained that he was in India, mourning his father at the time.
He said he was open to investigation by a parliamentary probe team, security agencies, among others, adding that he had nothing to hide.
“Let the law take its course since I have nothing to hide. If I am found guilty, I am ready to face the consequences,” he said.
According to Mr Kigen, Mediheal has performed 476 kidney transplants at its Eldoret facility since it was licensed by the ministry of Health in November 2018.
Out of these, 371 were Kenyan nationals, and 105 foreigners, with a mortality rate of two percent, translating to 10 deaths in the six years it has been conducting the medical procedures. All were recipients, Dr Mishra clarified, noting that there was no single donor death. Mr Kigen said 62 of the recipient patients were Israeli nationals, three Germans, one American citizen, seven Somalis, and seven DRC nationals.
The foreigners, Dr Mishra, came to the country on medical Visas having been cleared by their respective countries, dismissing claims of falsified data to conceal evidence on organ trafficking, noting that the facility was not, however, able to immediately show the breakdown of the two percent who died to show their nationalities, promising to do so later.
“We will cooperate with all investigating and security agencies, police, parliamentary teams, medical agencies, and any other institution that will be looking into this matter. We will provide information and data that will be required, sticking within the data privacy provisions for patient confidentiality,” Mr Kigen said.
Dr Mishra said the facility developed its own costing for transplant procedures, guided by the ministry of Health guidelines on professional fees, and was offering low rates to local patients due to tough economic times and as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) services.
For kidney transplants, he revealed that the facility charges $35,000 - about Sh4.5 million- for foreigners, and $25,000 - about Sh3.2 million- for Africans.
“The charges are not the set standards, but our operations are regularly being audited by relevant government and health quality assurance bodies,” explained Dr Mishra, noting that the charges can go up to about $150,000 -Sh19.4 million when performed in foreign hospitals.
An online medical company known as Medlead has been using Mediheal facilities in Eldoret to harvest kidneys from Kenyans at a fee and exporting them to German patients.
“We are never involved in how the donor and recipient meet and agree, and we do not pair up the donor and patient. That is not part of the process. They come together and we trust them. We cannot treat our patients with suspicion when they present their donors,” Mr Kigen said.
Mr Kigen noted that some of its patients come in as referrals from other medical institutions or specialists, while others are detected while seeking medical attention at the facility.
“We have had no cases of complications of donors that have been brought to our attention. There has been no case of kidney complications in patients after transplant procedures that we have not dealt with. As it is the nature of any medical process, there could be complications, but we deal with them when they arise before, during, and post-operation,” Mr Kigen stated.
Mr Tobias Abondo, head of the Transnational Organised Crime Unit, in the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) that is probing the allegations of organ trafficking at Mediheal appealed to the victims to reach out to them immediately.
"It is on the backdrop of this that we seek assistance in any way possible - by way of information, intelligence, documentation.
The information will go a long way in aiding our investigations,” he said.
"The affected persons more so the victims are encouraged to report to the Eldoret DCI office starting Monday for statement recording.
Those near Nairobi to report to DCI headquarters while those in Mombasa to avail themselves at coast regional headquarters," he added.
For those willing to help us with the investigations, we’ll strive to have them admitted under the witness protection,” he assured.
Reporting by Leon Lidigu, Caroline Wafula and Barnabas Bii
