The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council has raised an alarm over the rise of unregistered health facilities offering medical services to Kenyans.
In a notice dated Friday, the agency noted that some of the hospitals were performing invasive procedures such as giving patients injections and offering dental procedures that require the use of anesthesia.
The owners of the facilities risk a Ksh10 million fine if found operating without licenses.
The owners of the entities also face imprisonment of five years given the risks they expose Kenyans to.
The body also raised concerns over stand-alone laboratories and pharmacies that are also treating patients.
"Medical and dental services can only be provided in health facilities that are registered and licensed to operate in Kenya. Standalone laboratories and pharmacies are registered and licensed within their regulatory framework for the specific purposes of diagnostic testing and medication dispensing," read the notice in part.
"Invasive procedures such as those involving injection of medications, procedures requiring local anaesthetics and procedures on teeth are considered medical services and are required to be undertaken in health facilities and by practitioners that are registered and licensed."
Therefore, Kenyans were advised to authenticate the registration status of the hospitals before getting treatment.
As an aid, the Council noted that it had published all registered facilities on its website; kmpdc.go.ke/Registers/MTreg/facilities.php, and can be accessed for free.
Alternatively, Kenyans can verify whether a facility is registered through SMS by sending H#Name of facility to 20547. The name of the facility can also be replaced with the registration number of the facility.
The council's message mostly targets private facilities that occasionally operate in estates across the country.
Occasionally, Kenyans prefer seeking medical attention at private facilities because of the quality of service at the facilities despite them being more costly.
