Health PS Nicholas Muraguri: “If a doctor is reported to the medical
services board, they will be deregistered for that is a criminal
offence.” PHOTO | FILE
By STELLAR MURUMBA and NEVILLE OTUKI
In Summary
- Up to 880 doctors in public and private hospitals could lose their practising licences and face criminal charges if investigations confirm that they intentionally misadvised patients to seek treatment abroad in exchange for kickbacks.
- Health Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri told the Business Daily that the investigation seeks to identify rogue doctors who have been colluding with specialists in countries such as India to fleece patients of millions of shillings while draining Kenya’s hard currency reserves.
- Dr Muraguri said any doctor found guilty of the alleged malpractices will be stripped of their practising licences and face the risk of criminal prosecution.
Up to 880 doctors in public and private hospitals
could lose their practising licences and face criminal charges if
investigations confirm that they intentionally misadvised patients to
seek treatment abroad in exchange for kickbacks.
It has emerged that the Ministry of Health received reports
on the unethical practice last year and launched investigations whose
outcome will be released next month.
Health Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri told the Business Daily
that the investigation seeks to identify rogue doctors who have been
colluding with specialists in countries such as India to fleece patients
of millions of shillings while draining Kenya’s hard currency reserves.
Dr Muraguri said any doctor found guilty of the
alleged malpractices will be stripped of their practising licences and
face the risk of criminal prosecution.
“It is really messy. If a doctor of whatever
calibre is reported to the medical services board, they will not only be
named and shamed but be deregistered for that is a criminal offence,”
Dr Muraguri told the Business Daily.
Kenyan doctors are said to have established a
network of illicit dealing with foreign hospitals that ensures a regular
flow of patients to the facilities even for ailments that can be
treated locally in order to pocket the kick-backs.
The doctors are known to pocket up to Sh200,000 for
every referral – mainly of cancer, kidney and cosmetic surgery
patients. This adds a huge financial burden on patients because the
kickback due to the referring doctor is included in medical bills
accruing abroad.
More than 10,000 Kenyans travel abroad each year in
search of treatment for various ailments, especially cancer and kidney
transplants. The State has narrowed its focus on 880 cases.
Official statistics show that the overseas
treatments cost Kenya about Sh10 billion annually. Kenyans are
increasingly turning to India, in particular, for treatment of chronic
diseases in the belief that the Asian country has better doctors,
advanced medical equipment and charges lower, a position Kenyan
officials discount.
The PS said Kenya is well-equipped and staffed to
conduct cancer treatment, kidney transplants and beauty surgeries,
defeating the need for unnecessary travels abroad.
“Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) conducts about 30
kidney transplants a month and some of our private hospitals have
capacity for heart transplants, meaning these issues can be managed
here,” said Dr Muraguri.
Dr Muraguri said only delicate conditions that
local experts cannot treat would warrant overseas care. Kenya has more
recently expressed the ambition to become East Africa’s medical tourism
hub, a desire that is being undermined by the continuous outflow of
patients.
The situation is made even more difficult by the
fact that top government officials have ignored the official policy in
favour of local healthcare, opting instead for treatment in Europe and
the US.
Dr Muraguri said some local practitioners have
become money-hungry while overlooking the medical profession’s
Hippocratic Oath, which gives top priority to life and welfare of
patients.
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