The White Paper on the State of Bangladesh Economy finds rampant systematic corruption in health sector through procurement and supply chain management, outsourcing of services, and career mobility of young doctors.
Corruption was also reported in connection with pharmaceuticals, diagnostics tests, private hospitals, and through appointments, promotions, transfer, leave permission of doctors and health professionals.
On December 1, a 12-member committee headed by economist Debapriya Bhattacharya submitted the report to the interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
The interim government formed the committee on August 29 following taking over power on August 8 after the fall of the longest serving prime minister Sheikh Hasina in a student-led peoples uprising on August 5.
According to the paper, the Directorate General of Health Services has more than 60 procurement entities under its umbrella.
The DGHS oversees the procurement of various medical and non-medical commodities essential for healthcare provision. In this system of procurement, the health related products are being bought through open tender where, allegedly, the corruption is rampant.
There are instances where the under-the-table dealing is to receive less/quality compromised products that are not at par as specified in the tenders.
Deployment of human resources to clean and run a hospital with health workers, 鈥榦utsourcing鈥� of such service deliveries in public hospitals, community clinics have been introduced.
There has been allegedly widespread corruption in contracting out the services, and largely, the services provided by the outsourced service providers are unsatisfactory to public health service entities.
The paper said that it was a common practice in the health service sector that pharmaceutical companies through their representatives maintain a good relationship with the practicing doctors so that doctors prescribe their medicines.
The paper said that the doctors and diagnostic centres are allegedly believed to be connected. The diagnostic centres use to offer doctors a percentage of the test cost which is borne by the patients. It is a common complaint by the patients in Bangladesh that the doctors suggest for unnecessary diagnostic tests.
According to the White Paper, the country lost $16 billion annually on an average between 2009 and 2023 because of the illicit fund flow amid systemic tax evasion, misuse of exemptions, and poorly managed public finances under the authoritarian Awami League regime.
The white Paper revealed that the significant fiscal opportunities lost to corruption, stated that halving tax exemptions could double education funding and triple health allocations.
