It is safe to say that the health-care sector in any country is one that deserves to be treated with utmost importance. It is crucial for a nation to ensure its citizens are provided with the kind of care required to lead healthy lives.
Which is why it is devastating to see so many cases of corruption in our health-care infrastructure, most of which remain un-investigated, let alone resolved.
Records suggest as many as 14 corruption cases have been filed against 36 people in the sector, with barely any of them convicted for their crimes so far.
The fact that most of the accused in these cases use their wealth and power to suppress charges -- or manipulate the very system that we trust for fair rulings -- is further testament to the sorry state of our health-care sector.
A plethora of corruption sources have been identified in the field, all of which allude to not only a much more corrupt system than we anticipated, but also means that the safety of the general public is being jeopardized by select fraudulent individuals.
While the recent approval of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 2022 will ensure life imprisonment for manufacturers of adulterated and fake drugs, more of these strict laws need to be established and enforced to cover the various other crimes being committed in the sector.
The authorities have remarked that a number of factors continue to prevent the perpetrators of these malpractices from being rightfully charged. While that may be true, the government must double down on their efforts to identify the core of the problem, and take appropriate steps to uproot corruption completely.
There should be zero tolerance for corruption in health-care. People's health and lives cannot be trifled with.
