Probing corruption in medicare hard because cases announced too late: Anti-Corruption Center

The Health Ministry's task is to identify who's guilty of corruption in medicare: the doctor or the patient, but to seek solutions to counter the phenomenon, Deputy Health Minister Mircea Buga stated at a sitting of the Investigative Journalists Club . “Both in the Country Threshold Program and outside it, steps are undertaken to contribute to improve the quality of medical service and fighting corruption in the future. Clinical protocols have been drafted (documents providing for standardizing medical services – e.n.) and ethics guides, which will ease stimulating and sanctioning doctors,” the deputy minister is quoted by Info-Prim Neo as saying. According to Mircea Buga, raising wages is another step to fight corruption. “In 2009 the doctors' salaries will be raised some 30%. Now they vary from 2.3 and 4 thousand lei,” he specified. Officers from the Economic Crimes and Corruption Combating Center (ECCCC), who attended the club's sitting, have said probing the corruption cases in the healthcare system is difficult, especially because they are denounced only after having taken place. In 2008, 8 penal proceedings were started in medicare, most of them related to ascribing disability degrees. “The bribe offered in these cases vary from 50 to 300 euros,” said Iurie Ciorba, an official with the ECCCC. He says, opinion polls show 70% of patients give payoffs to solve their problems.