Report highlights global corruption in healthcare

Corruption is commonplace in worldwide healthcare, according to a new report.

The international coalition Transparency International’s (TI) annual Global Corruption Report has found while the majority of people employed in the sector work with diligence and integrity, there is evidence of bribery and fraud across the breadth of health services.

The report found evidence of a range of problems from petty thievery to massive distortions of health policy and funding fed by payoffs to officials.

TI chair Huguette Labelle said: “Corruption in health care costs more than money.

“When an infant dies during an operation because an adrenalin injection to restart her heart was actually just water — how do you put a price on that?

“The price of corruption in health care is paid in human suffering.”

The report found in much of south eastern Europe it was commonplace for doctors to be given small ‘gifts’ from just $10 to as much as $1000 to ensure treatment takes place.

While in the Philippines, a ten per cent increase in the extortion of bribes by medical personnel was shown to reduce the rate of child immunisation by up to 20 per cent.

In the UK it was found tighter control mechanisms have reduced losses to corruption by around ?170 million since 1999.

TI chief executive David Nussbaum said: “Corruption eats away at the public’s trust in the medical community. People have a right to expect that the drugs they depend on are real.

“They have a right to think that doctors place a patient’s interests above profits. And most of all, they have a right to believe that the healthcare industry is there to cure, not to kill.”

© Adfero Ltd