China’s patients and medical staff pay price when healthcare is corrupt
- A better, more transparent regulatory environment is crucial if China is to instil public confidence in a health system that remains underdeveloped outside main cities
Medical corruption has long been a prime grievance in China. Collusive drug deals between hospital managements and pharmaceutical companies and overcharging of patients are just two examples.
The Covid years were meant to address it through ongoing major reforms. Instead the pandemic prompted the authorities to put badly needed restructuring on hold. They funnelled countless resources into the health sector to support the zero-tolerance Covid strategy.
No expense was spared and there was relatively little supervision. Now, technically, the pandemic may not be over. But the day of reckoning for the profiteers has dawned.
Anti-corruption officers have investigated more than 160 hospital bosses as Beijing targets the medical sector. State media reports that at least two chairmen of top pharmaceutical firms are also under investigation.
There is more to it than the need to reboot the reform process and instil public confidence in a health system that remains underdeveloped outside the main cities.
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The country’s leadership is concerned about the weak momentum of economic growth. Domestic consumption is one area where the government can give the economy a boost.
It needs to lift consumer confidence among the 400-million-strong middle class – the backbone of domestic consumption.
But amid falling property prices, the cost burden of educating children, medical services and care of the elderly, they claim they do not have the money for discretionary spending after saving for a rainy day.
The question is whether they really have to spend that much on medical care when the government is subsidising the health sector. The reality is that theft by hospital operators indirectly impacts on consumer spending.
As well as hard infrastructure, China needs to spend on boosting public services as drivers for the economy, public healthcare being the most important. Outside tier-one and -two cities, hospital facilities are quite basic, leaving wide scope to invest wisely.
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The government realises that it must restructure the public health sector to ensure funds are really spent on new hospitals and facilities and on reducing the cost for patients.
There is a need to strengthen the internal regulatory system with more transparency and checks and balances, including provision for patients to report irregularities without fearing retribution.
This calls for a sustainable, systematic approach rather than just containment of irregularities. There is a need to learn from past experience.
The authorities’ move to contain corruption is worthy of support but, amid a sweeping campaign, the morale of medical staff should not be forgotten.
That is another reason a better, more transparent regulatory environment is important.
