India: Graft at state hospitals targeted

THE INDIAN government has ordered a review of activities at all state-owned hospitals to end what the health minister called systemic corruption, as part of a crackdown on malpractice in the health-care sector. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has vowed to eradicate graft in India’s $74 billion (R789bn) health-care sector, where it is common for doctors to be paid for referring patients to a particular clinic or to receive gifts from companies for prescribing their drugs. “There are many aspects to corruption in hospitals which as a medico I know exist,” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. “If money is made in the allocation of beds or as kickbacks from suppliers, it is sleaze.” – Reuters