Health sector loses $500b a year to corruption – Transparency International

Corruption costs the health sector $500 billion every year, more than the amount needed for worldwide universal health coverage, says Transparency International.

“Every $100 million lost to corruption could fund full immunisation for 4 million children or provide water connections for some 250,000 households,” said Commonwealth secretary-general Patricia Scotland.

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“Whilst we tend to think of corruption in purely monetary terms, the truth is that it costs us the quality of our lives.”

Scotland made this known on Monday during the virtual Commonwealth Regional Conference for Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa.

In an era where official development assistance facilities and donor assistance are diminishing, the Commonwealth Secretary General noted that “the important issue of corruption and illicit financial flows needs to be brought to the forefront of the discussion on domestic resource mobilisation in Africa.”