KENYA—The Kenyan government has announced plans to establish the East Africa Kidney Institute (EAKI) in a significant step towards Kenya’s goal of becoming a regional hub for medicine and attracting medical tourists.
Set to open in September 2023, the institute will operate under the University of Nairobi’s College of Health Sciences and will serve as a body organ and tissue donation bank.
Efforts will be made to expand the pool of organs and tissues to meet the growing demand. The institute will accept donations from both living and deceased individuals.
Its establishment will bring forth new and more cost-effective approaches to managing kidney diseases in the region.
The building is expected to cover an area of approximately 22,000 square meters, spanning six stories along with a basement, ground floor, and four additional stories.
EAKI’s team will not only oversee dialysis, renal replacement, and transplantation but will also focus on managing and caring for other non-communicable diseases, including cancers.
Upon becoming operational, the institute will cater to the entire continent. It will feature a 45-bed dialysis department, a 20-bed critical care area, a state-of-the-art image diagnostic facility, laboratories, outpatient services, and two floors with rooms to accommodate 160 patients.
The center aims to provide high-quality regional renal health services, reducing the need for referrals to foreign countries.
Additionally, the institute will enhance healthcare referral services, boost medical tourism, promote research in medical specialties, and maintain a registry of renal conditions, thereby elevating the overall standard of healthcare in the country.
Prof. Peter Mungai, the director of the East African Kidney Institute said, “This programme is all about a bank match where donated organs and tissue will be stored awaiting a transplant where receivers will easily get their match.”
He was quick to reiterate that the kidney donation will be given priority after which other tissues and organs including the liver, pancreas, cornea, lungs, and the heart will be also open for donations.
Prof Mungai has asked the public to take up the challenges to reduce the kidney disease burden in the country as well as help those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) to live a normal life through transplants.
This will be strengthened by the Kenya Tissues and Transplant Authority which will ensure access to the safe and ethical use of human cells, tissues, and organs as well as the well-being of donors and recipients.
However, Kenyan law clearly states that an adult person can only donate a kidney and not sell it to a willing buyer.
This limitation has over time resulted in most people dying without getting a suitable donor as all willing donors are required to undergo a series of tests before undergoing surgery.
The law states that anyone who charges a fee for a human organ commits an offence (and) is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh10 million (US$73, 527) or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years or to both a fine and imprisonment.
This comes at a time kidney disease continues to be a health burden in the country affecting anyone without discrimination on gender, age, or financial status.
The Ministry of Health estimates that more than 1.8 million Kenyans suffer from CKD, majorly contributed to by late diagnosis, limited access to treatment, and poor control of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.
It is further estimated that almost 500,000 Kenyans are living with chronic kidney disease and more than 6,000 patients are on dialysis in Kenya.
Kenya continues to etch its name regionally as a preferred destination for medical tourism for East and Central Africa, attracting high-quality technology and facilities as well as support from global organisations in a bid to match the levels of countries such as India.
As recent as April when President launched CyberKnife equipment at the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital, a high-technology facility aimed at revolutionising cancer treatment in Kenya and the wider East African region.
The technology is an advanced form of radiation therapy that uses high-energy X-rays to destroy cancer cells with pinpoint accuracy. It is a painless and minimally invasive procedure that offers low risks to patients.
Other development also includes the announcement of a significant partnership by WHO, whereby Kenya will also set up a regional health emergency hub and training centre to serve the African continent.
Development on the pharmaceutical front includes Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, and Kenya Medical Research Institute will, in the next few months conduct the first phase of clinical study in Kenya to develop TNX-8011 as a vaccine to protect against monkeypox.
Also of significance is Moderna to establish in Kenya an mRNA manufacturing facility, the first in Africa, with the capacity to produce up to 500 million vaccine doses annually.
The new facility is expected to enable the manufacturing of vaccines for Kenya and Africa and will be able to quickly scale up its production and respond to public health emergencies on the continent and worldwide.
Kenya already attracts patients from several countries more so in Africa including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Nigeria.
According to the Ministry of Health, about 5,000 foreigners seek treatment in Kenya every year with many avenues for growth in the sector of medical tourism unexploited.
Similarly, the number of Kenyans who travel abroad for treatment, according to official data, stands at 10,000 annually and hence facilities such as EAKI will be fundamental to quell this movement of people.
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