WHO: Corruption saps billions in government spending on medicines each year: Knowledge Driven Revolution

[KDR: It always makes me laugh when the UN complains about corruption.]

Up to C$14 billion of what governments spend on medicines each year is lost to corruption, the World Health Organization said Tuesday as it launched an initiative to make sure all the money is used to fight disease.

The global health body said exact figures are impossible to obtain, but it estimates that governments spend roughly $56 billion on medicines every year. Of that amount between 10 and 25 per cent of it is lost to fraud, bribery and diversion of pharmaceuticals, it says.

"This is an aberration when you think that poor populations struggle with the double bind of a high burden of disease and low access to medical products," WHO Assistant Director-General Howard Zucker said. "Countries need to deal with this problem and ensure that the precious resources devoted to health are being well spent."

Medicines change hands several times from production to distribution and eventually to the patient, opening doors to corruption, the WHO said in a statement.

Corrupt practices also allow counterfeit and substandard medicines onto the market, further posing a threat to people's health, it said.

Corruption occurs, for example, if government officials accept bribes for the registration of medicines without having the necessary information on the products, the statement said. Officials may also deliberately slow down registration to get payment from suppliers.

Other forms of corruption may be thefts and embezzlement during the distribution of medicines, as well as selecting regulatory staff based on favouritism rather than professional merit.

Some 40 health experts, including representatives from governments and the pharmaceutical industry, met Monday and Tuesday at WHO headquarters to work out plans for fighting such corruption.

Guitelle Baghdadi-Sabeti, a WHO officer on medicines policy and standards, said an aim of the meeting was to set up a global advisory group - consisting of experts from international organizations as well as government officials - to promote good governance in drugs procurement.

Creating new legislation to encourage individuals to "act ethically out of fear of punishment" is important in tackling corruption, said Baghdadi-Sabeti. But she said health experts also have been trying to come up with some common ethical principles for the medicine production and procurement chain.

Poor countries, which are more vulnerable to corruption in medical procurement, will be the first to get WHO support, said Hans Hogerzeil, the global body's director of medicines policy and standards.

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HOME Canadians Should Pay NOT to be Poisoned: NDP V for Vendetta - R for Reality Canadian Bird Flu Pandemic Looming ? Shill of the Week: Stephan Harper Aspartame: The Sweetest Killer Chicken Little Terrorist of the Week: Creating Fake Terrorists Shill of the Week: Paul Martin The Number 1 Reason YOU became a Slave	WHO: Corruption saps billions in government spending on medicines each year CP November 03, 2006 [KDR: It always makes me laugh when the UN complains about corruption.] Up to C$14 billion of what governments spend on medicines each year is lost to corruption, the World Health Organization said Tuesday as it launched an initiative to make sure all the money is used to fight disease. The global health body said exact figures are impossible to obtain, but it estimates that governments spend roughly $56 billion on medicines every year. Of that amount between 10 and 25 per cent of it is lost to fraud, bribery and diversion of pharmaceuticals, it says. "This is an aberration when you think that poor populations struggle with the double bind of a high burden of disease and low access to medical products," WHO Assistant Director-General Howard Zucker said. "Countries need to deal with this problem and ensure that the precious resources devoted to health are being well spent." Medicines change hands several times from production to distribution and eventually to the patient, opening doors to corruption, the WHO said in a statement. Corrupt practices also allow counterfeit and substandard medicines onto the market, further posing a threat to people's health, it said. Corruption occurs, for example, if government officials accept bribes for the registration of medicines without having the necessary information on the products, the statement said. Officials may also deliberately slow down registration to get payment from suppliers. Other forms of corruption may be thefts and embezzlement during the distribution of medicines, as well as selecting regulatory staff based on favouritism rather than professional merit. Some 40 health experts, including representatives from governments and the pharmaceutical industry, met Monday and Tuesday at WHO headquarters to work out plans for fighting such corruption. Guitelle Baghdadi-Sabeti, a WHO officer on medicines policy and standards, said an aim of the meeting was to set up a global advisory group - consisting of experts from international organizations as well as government officials - to promote good governance in drugs procurement. Creating new legislation to encourage individuals to "act ethically out of fear of punishment" is important in tackling corruption, said Baghdadi-Sabeti. But she said health experts also have been trying to come up with some common ethical principles for the medicine production and procurement chain. Poor countries, which are more vulnerable to corruption in medical procurement, will be the first to get WHO support, said Hans Hogerzeil, the global body's director of medicines policy and standards. Read the full article here Broken Link? If the link to the original article is broken or has been altered you can view the article by clicking here. About KDR \| \| Home \| \| Weekly Features Archive	Weekly Features Archive
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