NAIROBI, Kenya – The long-standing practice of hospitals holding onto bodies over unpaid bills could soon be outlawed under new amendments to Kenya’s health laws.
The Health (Amendment) Bill, 2024, currently before Parliament, seeks to criminalize the detention of bodies and compel all hospitals — including private facilities — to provide emergency medical treatment without demanding payment upfront.
Solicitor General Shadrack Mose has urged MPs to adjust sections of the Bill to explicitly make body detention a punishable offence and expand emergency care obligations to cover both public and private hospitals.
“Detaining bodies is degrading and contrary to human dignity,” Mose told the National Assembly’s Health Committee. “The amendment should apply to all facilities equally, not just public ones.”
The move follows a September 23 ruling by Justice Nixon Sifuna, who declared that hospitals have no legal right to hold onto patients or their remains as collateral for unpaid bills.
“There is in Kenya no law providing for a hospital’s right of lien over patients or their remains,” Justice Sifuna ruled, noting that the practice traumatises grieving families and unfairly pressures them to settle debts.
The amendments, sponsored by Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina, were initially aimed at penalising public hospital officers who demand payment before offering emergency care.
However, the Solicitor General now wants the same accountability extended to private hospitals, which often require deposits even during life-threatening emergencies.
Mose said the proposal should align with Section 12 of the Health Act, which already obligates all healthcare providers to offer emergency treatment regardless of payment status.
Failure to comply could see facilities lose their operating licences and responsible officers prosecuted.
Private hospitals have raised concerns about financial losses from mandatory emergency treatment, but Mose noted that the Social Health Insurance Act (SHIA) already addresses this through the Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund.
“Section 28 of the SHIA establishes a fund to cover the cost of emergency treatment,” Mose explained. “It protects both hospitals and patients facing severe health conditions.”
If Parliament approves the changes, Kenya will formally outlaw the detention of bodies and strengthen access to emergency medical care — marking a major policy shift in how hospitals handle unpaid bills and patient rights.
