Corruption in Health Systems: The Conversation Has Started, Now Time to Continue it Comment on "We Need to Talk About Corruption in Health Systems"

Abstract

Holistic and multi-disciplinary responses should be prioritized given the depth and breadth through which corruption in the healthcare sector can cover. Here, taking the Peruvian context as an example, we will reflect on the issue of corruption in health systems, including corruption with roots within and outside the health sector, and ongoing efforts to combat it. Our reflection of why corruption in health systems in settings with individual and systemic corruption should be an issue that is taken more seriously in Peru and beyond aligns with broader global health goals of improving health worldwide. Addressing corruption also serves as a pragmatic approach to health system strengthening and weakens a barrier to achieving universal health coverage and Sustainable Development Goals related to health and justice. Moreover, we will argue that by pushing towards a practice of normalizing the conversation about corruption in health has additional benefits, including expanding the problematization to a wider audience and therefore engaging with communities. For young researchers and global health professionals with interests in improving health systems in the early career stages, corruption in health systems is an issue that could move to the forefront of the list of global health challenges. This is a challenge that is uniquely multi-disciplinary, spanning the health, economy, and legal sectors, with wider societal implications.

Ética, salud mental y COVID-19

“…Finalmente, la tercera inversión debiera orientarse a combatir otro de los grandes problemas de salud mental que enfrenta nuestro país crónicamente, la corrupción de grupos de interés a los cuales no les conviene que el país se desarrolle y progrese porque ello afectaría sus protervas ganancias [16,17] . Cuanto menos peruanos-personas hayan en la población peruana, y mayor sea la población con desarrollo moral incompleto, más fácil será el manejo de su destino por grupos corruptos de objetivos crematísticos.…”

Informal payments in health facilities in Peru in 2018: Analysis of a cross-sectional survey

“…Health care services are provided separately within each of these sectors. This fragmentation informs the factors that foster corruption, such as weak regulatory oversight in healthcare facilities and personnel, complex bureaucratic procedures and excessive paperwork, lack of transparency in procurement processes for medical supplies and equipment and, one of the most harmful factors, the existence of a culture of impunity, in which the corrupt are not held accountable [15].…”

Investigation of The Dynamic Relationship Between Health Expenditures and Corruption in Turkey through The ARDL Approach

“…Bunları; sağlık tesislerinin inşası ve rehabilitasyonu, ekipman ve malzeme alımı, ilaçların dağıtımı ve kullanımı, ürünlerin niteliklerinin düzenlenmesi, sağlık çalışanlarının eğitimi, tıbbi araştırma ve sağlık personeli tarafından hizmetlerin sağlanması şeklinde özetleyebiliriz. Benzeri şekilde Lu (2020), yolsuzlukların makro düzeyde yoğunlaştığı alanlar arasında ekipman satın alma, inşaat ve ilaç endüstrisinde yoğunlaşmanın meydana geldiğini belirtmektedir. Bu durum ise sağlık sistemlerinde etkinliği azaltmakta ve yolsuzluk eylemleri yasal çerçeveler dahilinde rekabet eden çıkarlar etrafında toplanmaktadır.…”