A 25-year-old Embu man who was stopped by the government from travelling to India for a kidney transplant is dead.
The ministry of health had said such services were available in Kenya and there was no need for the patient to travel outside the country.
Kenneth Kamau Kinyua succumbed to kidney failure at Nairobi West hospital leaving behind a Sh980,000 bill.
The family of the young man is now calling upon well-wishers and the government to assist them in settle the hospital bill so that they can lay his body to rest.
Speaking at their home in Kangari village in Runyenjes sub-county, Kamau’s father said they had sold all their property to try save his life.
“We cannot raise such an amount of money, we sold everything, our house is empty with nothing else to sell,” David Kinyua said.
Zipporah Wanja, Kamau’s mother said that they are now living in abject poverty and they cannot offset the pending bill on their own.
She said the family had attached title deeds and a car log book at different hospitals.
“He has been in and out of different hospitals at different times and were forced to charge our land at some point to secure his release,” she said.
However, they said their son would have survived if the government had allowed him to travel to India for specialised treatment.
Kamau was an Information Technology student at Mt Kenya University and was diagnosed with stage five kidney failure in 2017 and had been surviving on three dialysis sessions every week before he died.
He also suffered other opportunistic ailments which cost more than Sh35,000 daily.
“He underwent three surgeries, I think this led to his kidneys failing,” said John Kandia, his guardian.
Help can be sent through Paybill number, 222911, Account number, kamau#.
Approximately 10,000 Kenyans travel abroad every year in search of treatment, according to the ministry of health.
A 2015 survey by the ministry found that 40 per cent of Kenyans who travelled overseas for treatment had kidney diseases.
The rest suffered other diseases, which included cancer, spinal disease, tissue disorders, and peripheral vascular disorders among others.
The patients said they chose to go abroad because of lack of enough specialists and specialised medical equipment, long waiting periods, especially for cancer treatment and kidney transplants, and the high cost of treatment in Kenya.
