Beyond Talking: We Need Effective Measures to Tackle Systemic Corruption and the Power That Allows It to Persist in Health Systems; A Response to Recent Commentaries

Document Type : Correspondence

Authors

1 Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

2 Department of Health Systems and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

Keywords


We were delighted to receive 14 responses to our editorial on corruption in health systems1 and thank the authors for their excellent contributions. It seems that in discussing why health systems researchers are reluctant to discuss corruption, this journal has created a window of opportunity to discuss this neglected topic... (Read more...)

  1. Hutchinson E, Balabanova D, McKee M. We need to talk about corruption in health systems. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(4):191-194. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2018.123
  2. G20. G20 Osaka Leaders' Declaration 2020. https://mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/g20_summit/osaka19/documents/final_g20_osaka_leaders_declaration.html.  Accessed February 1, 2020.
  3. United Nations. Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage “Universal Health Coverage: Moving Together to Build a Healthier World.” New York: United Nations; 2019.
  4. World Health Organization (WHO). Tackling Corruption in the Health Sector to Leave no One Behind. WHO; 2019. https://www.who.int/gender-equity-rights/news/anti-corruption-transparency-accountability-in-health-systems/en/.  Accessed February 1, 2020.
  5. Stiernstedt P. Some things are rarely discussed in public - on the discourse of corruption in healthcare: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(9):560-562. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.51
  6. Lewis M. We need to measure and address corruption and poor governance in health systems: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(10):616-619. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.44
  7. Mackey TK. Opening the policy window to mobilize action against corruption in the health sector: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(11):668-671. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.65
  8. Clarke D. Changing the conversation, why we need to reframe corruption as a public health issue: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020; In Press. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.124
  9. Kohler JC. I know it when i see it: the challenges of addressing corruption in health systems: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(9):563-566. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.48
  10. Hussmann K. Demystify false dilemmas to speak about corruption in health systems: different actors, different perspectives, different strategies: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(10):620-622. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.61
  11. Gaitonde R. Corruption - taking a deeper dive: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(11):672-674. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.63
  12. Mostert S, Kaspers G. all it takes for corruption in health systems to triumph, is good people who do nothing: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(10):610-612. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.53
  13. Vian T. High stakes require more than just talk: what to do about corruption in health systems: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(8):505-507. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.33
  14. Huss R. Our blind spots in the fight against health systems corruption: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020;9(1):34-38. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.81
  15. Fotaki M. Why we must talk about institutional corruption to understand wrongdoing in the health sector: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020; In Press. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.103
  16. Lu HS, Ho BX, Miranda JJ. Corruption in health systems: the conversation has started, now time to continue it: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2020;9(3):128-32. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.104
  17. Gaitonde R, Oxman AD, Okebukola PO, Rada G. Interventions to reduce corruption in the health sector. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016(8):CD008856. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD008856.pub2
  18. Dyer C. Judge suggests steps to prevent employers unfairly referring whistleblowers to GMC. BMJ. 2015;350:h1705. doi:10.1136/bmj.h1705
  19. Reynolds L. Not up for discussion: applying Lukes' power model to the study of health system corruption: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(12):723-726. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.75
  20. Witvliet MI. It will take a global movement to curb corruption in health systems: Comment on "We need to talk about corruption in health systems.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2019;8(11):662-664. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2019.58
  21. Khan MH. Beyond good governance: an agenda for developmental governance. In: Sundaram JK, Chowdhury A, eds. Is good governance good for development? New York: UN DESA; 2013:151-182.
  22. Khan MH. Political Settlements and the Governance of Growth-Enhancing Institutions. https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/9968. Published 2010.
  23. Hossain N, Musembi CN, Hughes J, Stern J. Corruption, Accountability and Gender: Understanding the Connections. New York: United Nations Development Programme; 2010.