Anti-corruption in global health systems: using key informant interviews to explore anti-corruption, accountability and transparency in international health organisations.
BMJ Open
; 12(12): e064137, 2022 12 22.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2193777
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Corruption undermines the quality of healthcare and leads to inequitable access to essential health products. WHO, Global Fund, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Bank are engaged in anti-corruption in health sectors globally. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, weakened health systems and overlooked regulatory processes have increased corruption risks. The objective of this study is thus to explore the strengths and weaknesses of these organisations' anti-corruption mechanisms and their trajectories since the pandemic began. DESIGN, SETTING ANDPARTICIPANTS:
25 semistructured key informant interviews with a total of 27 participants were conducted via Zoom between April and July 2021 with informants from WHO, World Bank, Global Fund and UNDP, other non-governmental organisations involved in anti-corruption and academic institutions. Key informant selection was guided by purposive and snowball sampling. Detailed interview notes were qualitatively coded by three researchers. Data analysis followed an inductive-deductive hybrid thematic analysis framework.RESULTS:
The findings demonstrate that WHO, World Bank, Global Fund and UNDP have shifted from criminalisation/punitive approaches to anti-corruption to preventative ones and that anti-corruption initiatives are strong when they are well funded, explicitly address corruption and are complemented by strong monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. Weaknesses in the organisations' approaches to anti-corruption include one-size-fits-all approaches, lack of political will to address corruption and zero-tolerance policies for corruption. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the necessity of improving anti-corruption by promoting strong accountability and transparency in health systems.CONCLUSIONS:
Results from this study highlight the strengths, weaknesses and recent trajectories of anti-corruption in the Global Fund, World Bank, UNDP and WHO. This study underscores the importance of implementing strong and robust anti-corruption mechanisms specifically geared towards corruption prevention that remain resilient even in times of emergency.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Global Health
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2022-064137
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