Former Kesses MP and founder of Mediheal Group of Hospitals, Dr. Swarup Mishra, has strongly denied allegations that Kenyan kidneys were exported or trafficked through the hospital’s transplant programme. He stated that all kidney transplants conducted at Mediheal followed legal and ethical procedures and were authorised by the Ministry of Health.
Speaking in response to a damning report by a government-appointed taskforce, which examined 476 kidney transplants carried out at Mediheal between 2018 and 2024, Mishra insisted that every foreign patient brought their own donor.
“No Kenyan organ has ever been exported. Not even one,” said Dr Mishra. “All foreign transplant patients brought their own donors. Mediheal has never been involved in donor selection, coercion, or commercialization.”
The taskforce report accused Mediheal of breaching transplant regulations and recommended the prosecution of Dr. Mishra alongside three senior doctors. However, Mishra dismissed the report as malicious and lacking credible evidence.
“This report is harmful to the integrity of our hospital. The claims are entirely unfounded,” he said. “We remain committed to ethical, safe, and world-class healthcare.”
Defending the hospital’s transplant procedures, Dr. Mishra explained that all patients undergo a comprehensive evaluation to determine transplant eligibility, while donors are subjected to rigorous screening including cross-matching, HLA typing, and gene mapping.
He revealed that of the 476 kidney transplants performed, only 20 were rejected a rate well below the global average of 20 percent. “Eight of the rejected cases were successfully rescued. We have not lost a single donor; all are alive,” he added.
Dr. Mishra also reported eight transplant-related deaths, defining them as deaths occurring within one month of surgery. He dismissed any link to later deaths, saying those were unrelated to the transplant.
Mediheal has since issued a legal demand to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle over a documentary that allegedly prompted the investigation. Mishra affirmed the hospital’s willingness to cooperate with authorities but stood firm in denying any wrongdoing.
“If any wrongdoing is found, we are ready to face the consequences but we reject the lies and defamation,” he concluded.
