Anticorruption in the Health Sector: Strategies for Transparency and Accountability

* Brief, readable field guide also suitable for classes in public health and development
* Compelling case studies with best practices examples from Africa, Central Europe and South America

Corruption is a serious problem for both rich and poor countries, threatening international development and eroding confidence in governments. In the health sector, corruption is literally a matter of life and death: facilities crumble when repair funds are embezzled; fake drugs flood the market with corrupt regulators managing supply, and doctors extorting under-the-table payments from patients fail to provide needed care. Most major development organizations have rewritten their anticorruption strategies in the last five years, hinting that reform is within reach. But these strategies pay little attention to incentives and capacity at the sector level. Those preparing to fight corruption in the health sector have very few resources to guide them until now.

Anticorruption in the Health Sector brings practical experience to bear on anticorruption approaches tailored specifically to health. The contributors, all skilled practitioners, address the consequences of different types of corruption and show how agencies can more effectively address these challenges as an integral part of their development work. Both practitioner and classroom-friendly, this book finally addresses a neglected issue that has so much bearing on global health and governance.

Taryn Vian teaches courses in health care management, financial management, and transparency in governance at Boston University. Prior to joining BU in 1999, she worked for two international consulting firms, Management Sciences for Health (MSH), and Abt Associates, Inc. Taryn lived in the Philippines, where she managed a multi-million dollar USAID-funded project to improve the quality of child survival and family planning services after decentralization. Aside from her Philippines work, Taryn has traveled to 25 other countries working to improve management and to enhance the quality of health care services. She has designed and evaluated health projects in Chad, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Poland. More recently, she evaluated Global Fund governance structures and assessed vulnerabilities to corruption in Azerbaijan and Albania, and worked with a team of BU investigators to evaluate Pfizer Corporation's Global Health Fellows Program, an international volunteering initiative active in 30 countries.

Harald Mathisen is a political scientist with a wide geographical and topical experience within the field of governance and anti-corruption. As project coordinator of U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre for five years, key experience include: workshop facilitation and training, research coordination, anti-corruption analysis and strategy development, website development, project management. Mathisen has published extensively and is regularly presenting at conferences and seminars on anti-corruption strategies and the work of the international community in this field.

William D. Savedoff has been working for more than 20 years on economic and social development issues. His work is focused on finding ways to improve the quality of social services in developing countries, with particular attention to incentives, institutions, and political-economy.