Impact of corruption on the health sector
Introduction
“Corruption hurts Health” (UNDP 2011a: 11)
The importance of health to overall well-being and development cannot be overstated. Improving healthcare is a core part of the global development agenda: Four of the Millennium Development Goals are health related, and improving healthcare is a central objective of the post 2015 agenda.
Efficient healthcare systems that ensure access to adequate healthcare for everyone is a cornerstone in achieving these goals.
Corruption negatively affects the achievement of health sector goals, preventing high quality services from reaching entire populations. While the actual effect of corruption is difficult to quantify, detrimental effects to the health system have been analyzed and verified through a large amount of research. This lesson provides an overview, while the next lesson details causes.