The Kenya Medical Research Institute has refuted claims that it is seeking volunteers to be deliberately infected with malaria for payment.
In a statement on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, the research institute flagged the claims as fake, and warned Kenyans that it was not conducting such a recruitment.
Additionally , it cautioned the public against falling for such information, urging them to verify it through its official communication channels before sharing it online.
“KEMRI wishes to clarify that claims circulating on social media alleging that the Institute is recruiting volunteers to be deliberately infected with malaria for payment are misleading and inaccurate,” KEMRI stated.
According to KEMRI, all studies involving human participants are conducted under strict ethical and regulatory guidelines designed to protect the safety and rights of volunteers.
The Institute maintained that before any such experiment is conducted, participant safety and informed consent remain central requirements in all research activities undertaken by the institution.
“All KEMRI research involving human participants is conducted under strict ethical & regulatory oversight, with participant safety & informed consent as core requirements,” it added.
This comes amid viral claims on social media that it was seeking to infect over 200 volunteers with malaria for 24 days for a medical research study.
According to the report, each volunteer was to be paid Ksh2,000 per day for the study period, bringing the total to Ksh48,000.
While the institution conducts medical research on human beings, KEMRI specified that it strictly regulates this process to ensure participant safety.
