Broke Kenyans pester KNH with offers to sell kidneys
Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) says it has no plans to purchase kidneys.
The announcement comes after Kenyans reportedly offered to sell the vital body organ to the country’s main referral hospital so as to make ends meet.
Kenyans are known to joke about their willingness to sell kidneys so as to navigate through the tough economic times.
“How much for my kidney?” is the most asked question in our inbox. Please note that organ sale is strictly prohibited and illegal. You can only donate out of free will,” a response from the hospital posted on Facebook read.
A report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on human trafficking in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi released in 2021 revealed that cases of human trafficking were on the increase.
In yet another report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) kidneys are the most trafficked organs in the world.
Early this year, doctors said that hundreds of patients on the waiting list for kidney transplants usually die before they are even attended to.
In 2019, the Ministry of Health put up a department that was tasked with guiding the donation of body organs following the new law that allowed transplants from the dead.
The department known as the National Blood Transfusion Services and Human Organs Transplantations usually guides how people donate their organs for research and other persons once they die.
The Kenyan law allows a person who is competent to make a will, to donate his or her body or any specified tissue to a person or institution of their choice after they die.
If a person dies and they never left behind such a will, then the consent can be given by a spouse, eldest child, parent, guardian, elder brother, or sister.
Organ donation must be done for free and those who breach face a fine not exceeding Sh10 million or be jailed for up to ten years.