China's ongoing anti-corruption campaign, led by President Xi Jinping since assuming the role of general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, has now turned its attention to the medical and pharmaceutical sectors.
The National Health Commission (NHC) of China has disclosed that the campaign's primary emphasis is on individuals who have exploited their positions to engage in corrupt practices, such as obtaining kickbacks, within the pharmaceutical domain. This initiative, as reported by the government-affiliated Global Times, represents a concerted effort to curtail corruption within these critical sectors.
According to the Global Times report, the focus on corruption has led to the targeting of at least 176 hospital presidents and party secretaries in 2023. This figure more than doubles the count from 2022. Prominent specialists, professors, and department heads of provincial and municipal hospitals have also come under suspicion.
Encompassing the entire pharmaceutical industry's chain, the year-long campaign, as outlined by the NHC, addresses production, circulation, sales, utilization, and reimbursement processes. This scope extends to pharmaceutical administrative bodies, industry associations, medical institutions, pharmaceutical enterprises, and medical insurance funds, as per the Global Times.
Xu Yucai, a prominent expert on healthcare reform, highlighted in an interview with the Global Times that the present anti-corruption endeavor in medicine is characterized by the broader involvement of governmental agencies compared to previous drives. This has culminated in the arrest of influential figures within both the medical and pharmaceutical sectors.
He Anquan, a former surgeon currently residing in the US, shared his observations of corruption during his tenure at the Yangpu District Central Hospital in Shanghai. In a phone interview with VOA Mandarin, he recounted instances of embezzlement, including the misappropriation of funds allocated for infrastructure development and equipment procurement from overseas suppliers.
"From the director to the attending doctors to the residents, they take kickbacks," he stated. These kickbacks often influence doctors' decisions regarding medical interventions, such as stent selection or prescription choices.
Wu Zuolai, an independent scholar residing in California and a former magazine editor who was dismissed for endorsing the pro-democracy appeal Charter 08, emphasized that the Communist Party's response to public sentiment is the driving force behind targeting healthcare corruption. In a phone interview with VOA Mandarin, he stated, “The crackdown on corruption seems to be in line with public opinion, and to a certain extent, it does slow down corruption. But it also hides the biggest corruption, which is the dualistic, or even pluralistic system of the health care system different groups of people enjoy different health care treatment, bringing difficulties in health care for the whole population.”
Hu Jia, a political dissident and analyst based in Beijing, concurred with Wu Zuolai's view that the root cause of corruption lies in the glaring disparities between medical treatment provided to Communist Party cadres and ordinary citizens. In a phone interview with VOA Mandarin, he explained, "There are probably close to 10 million party and government officials who enjoy privileged medical treatment, including totally free medical care, high-class wards, and guaranteed access to imported medicines. They take up about 80% of the nation's medical resources, and that number is far greater than the corruption volume of doctors and hospital staff."
