A cancer specialist lobby group has unveiled the existence of cartels comprising of medical practitioners in Kenya sending cancer patients abroad at a handsome reward of Sh100,000 per patient.
According to the Kenya Network of Cancer Organisations, foreign hospitals had established a group of medics tasked with ensuring that their facilities had a constant flow of cancer patients.
“It is known and I can go on record saying that some healthcare providers are getting kickbacks of up to $1,000 (Sh102,000) per patient referred to hospitals in India for cancer treatment that Kenya has capacity to handle,” lobby chairman David Makumi, who is also an oncologist was quoted by the Business Daily.
Makumi further stated that he was personally approached by the cartel but when he threatened to involve the anti corruption agency they took off.
He added that doctors had commercialised the decision of sending patients abroad for treatment and were not following clinical judgement.
“Four in every 10 patients diagnosed for radiotherapy do not show up. When you follow up, you find they were advised to go seek treatment abroad yet radiotherapy is standard whether in India, New York or Kenya,” he indicated.
Kenyans suffering from cancer have been streaming to India seeking for medical treatment following shortage of facilities for managing the condition in the country.
However, experts indicate radiotherapy infrastructure in private hospitals is idle 40 per cent of the time.
This comes at a time when the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) announced that it will introduce a new package for members with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, kidney failure and cancer.
NHIF will now pay Sh25,000 per session for cancer chemotherapy, Sh18,000 for radiology, and Sh500,000 for kidney transplants, up from Sh200,000.
