A hospital in Kenya’s capital Nairobi has announced it will release 250 patients who have been detained because they were unable to pay their bills, reports Citizen TV.
It follows an investigation by Citizen TV last week that filmed more than 20 women detained at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
The investigation found that some had been detained for as long as a year, but KNH have denied this.
Some had been referred to the hospital after developing childbirth complications and then couldn’t pay their bills. One person said she had been separated from her baby.
A few days later, on Thursday, the Health Secretary Susan Mochache told MPs that KNH was holding 184 patients, in addition, there were bodies of 387 people which had not been collected.
She named 11 other hospitals that had detained patients, reports the Standard newspaper.
In investigation by Associated Press last year reported that KNH used armed guards in military fatigues to stand watch over patients.
“All despite a court ruling years ago that found the detentions were illegal”, it said.
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Source: BBC
