1 February 2006—The focus of Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report for 2006 is corruption in the global health care system.  Based on the report, corruption in the health sector deprives those most in need of essential medical care and helps spawn drug-resistant strains of deadly diseases. 

For the millions of poor held hostage by unethical providers, stamping out corruption in health care is a matter of life and death.  “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?” said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International.  “The price of corruption in health care is paid in human suffering.” 

The report sheds light on the global US$ 3 trillion health sector, exposing a maze of complex and opaque systems that are a fertile field for corruption.  While the majority of people employed in the sector perform their functions with diligence and integrity, there is evidence of bribery and fraud across the breadth of health services, from petty thievery and extortion to massive distortions of health policy and funding fed by payoffs to officials. 

To read the full report, visit http://www.transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/gcr_2006