Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been informed on 21 September of the ruling of the High Court of Kenya in the context of a lawsuit that was filed in 2014 by four people, three of which are former MSF patients, against five health institutions, including MSF.

The three former patients alleged that they felt pressured by staff at MSF's former Mathare HIV care project (Blue House Clinic) to undergo surgical sterilization in a separate health facility, otherwise they would risk losing access to medical treatment or nutritional support. Women involved in the case also argue that in these separate health facilities they were sterilized without their consent. 

While waiting for the written judgement containing the full Judge's reasoning, MSF would like to express its deepest sympathy for the women involved in this case and restate our commitment to respect the informed consent and dignity of patients, including women's right to choose their family planning method. MSF does not and has never performed surgical sterilizations procedures in Kenya.

From 2008 to 2013, MSF's health promotion activities in Mathare involved providing patients with family planning information. In accordance with MSF's policies, patients were informed of a full range of contraception methods and the benefits, risks and consequences of each method.

Out of the 1,100 patients who received family planning counselling between 2008 and 2012 in the MSF's facility, twenty-one women were referred by MSF to ministry of health (MOH)-approved facilities for surgical sterilisation procedures. Surgical sterilization was thus not a preferred family planning method at the project.

Following the completion of an internal audit, MSF reinforced its internal procedures and incorporated further safeguards to ensure that the women were able to take an informed decision regarding their family planning method. For example, every patient who chose surgical sterilisation was counselled by two different medical practitioners at a minimum 3-week interval.