The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, has lamented the pervasive corruption in the health sector and the country at large, describing it as a “very deep issue”.
Pate mentioned that he recently handled a situation where donated therapeutic food for children was misappropriated, and he has since referred the issue to the authorities.
He addressed a single-day seminar organized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission themed, “Corruption-free health care delivery for all” on Thursday in Abuja.
Pate said, “So when we look at the issue of corruption in Nigeria, which is very long-standing, it’s ubiquitous. I recently just dealt with another case where donated, ready-to-use therapeutic foods, were donated to feed acutely malnourished children, free of charge to where we have severe acute malnutrition.
“Somebody raised grants, raised resources, brought it to Abuja, deployed it to one of the state capitals, and they filtered away.
“So it ( corruption) is a very deep issue. I have to write to the IG, and I would like to thank him also, specifically for deploying a very senior officer of the police force to be part of the task force. The challenge we face is a system and a paradigm that exists, that tolerates, encourages, demands, and accommodates corruption.“
Pate mentioned that it was challenging to separate corruption from the health sector, but emphasized that significant efforts were being made to tackle the issue.
He said, “In health, which is just one sector, sometimes it’s difficult to isolate corruption in health. So in health, what we are trying to do is to improve population health outcomes for all Nigerians. To save lives, to reduce pain, physical and financial pain, to produce health, and to do it for all Nigerians.”
The Chairman of the ICPC, Musa Aliyu (SAN), stated that the commission is prepared to address corruption and unethical practices within the health sector.
He said, “The conference is specifically organised to stimulate discussions that will help improve service delivery devoid of windows for corrupt tendencies in the Health Sector. This has become necessary considering the sector’s critical nature and its role in ensuring a healthy society at all levels.
“The Commission’s choice of Primary Health Care in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as the pilot for the nationwide conversation is to create a comprehensive template that can be replicated in all the six geopolitical zones of the federation.”
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During the keynote address, Adedolapo Fasawe, the FCTA Mandate Secretary for Health Services and Environment, remarked that corruption in the health sector was more severe than a pandemic.
She said, “The opportunity cost of financial corruption in health is inestimable. What is the cost of a life? Therefore, in health, corruption must either be prevented or nipped in the bud in infancy.
“A cancerous like corruption is worse than a pandemic – procurement of substandard equipment, fake drugs, revenue leakages, and inflated health bills are some of the immediate results of corruption.”
