On 16 November 2018, Medicines Sans Frontiers – France (MSF) witnesses begun to give their evidence to disprove the allegations that MSF staff were involved in coercion of women living with HIV (WLHIV) to undertake bilateral tubal ligation (BTL).
In her testimony, the first witness was a midwife supervisor at the time, established the link between MSF, Pumwani Maternity Hospital and Marie Stopes International, who are the first, second and third respondents in the case, respectively. She noted MSF referred women who opted for BTL as a form of family planning to Marie Stopes for the procedure, while pregnant women living with HIV under treatment at MSF’s Blue House clinic were referred to Pumwani maternity for delivery.
The witness added that they offered group counselling on family planning, guided by the National Family Planning Guidelines for Service Providers. Further, she noted Marie Stopes had an obligation to offer further counselling to the client to ensure informed consent before the BTL procedure was performed.
The court will proceed to hear the testimony of the four remaining witnesses on 18 January 2019.
To contribute to the discussions on this forum, follow KELIN on our social media platforms using the hashtag #Justice2Health.
Twitter: @KELINKenya
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The case petition is available here.
For more information contact:
Allan Maleche,
Advocate for the Petitioner’s and
Executive Director, KELIN
Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV & AIDS (KELIN)
4th Floor, Somak Building, Mombasa Road
Tel +254202515790; Cell +254708389870;
Email: amaleche@kelinkenya.org
Or
African Gender and Media Initiative
3rd Ngong Avenue, Upper Hill Gardens, Apt #E-06
Telephone: 020-2113093/4
P.O. Box 50429-00200 Nairobi
Website: www.gem.or.ke
Twitter: @GEM_Africa
Facebook: African Gender and Media Initiative Trust
