Corruption in the Health Department is not new to Meghalaya. Essential medical equipments like X-Ray or CT- Scan machines are purchased without adequate insurance coverage and tend to become unserviceable and idle assets after being used on a few patients. After the machines have packed up, patients are referred to private clinics for diagnostic services. Most patients and their families feel they are too inconsequential to complain. Hence the problems persist. The same is the case with procurement of medicinal drugs. There have been cases where medicines on the verge of expiry were purchased at throwaway prices. Such deals are regularly made between Health Ministers or the higher-ups in the Health Department. The recent allegations made by a consortium of drug suppliers about a non-transparent drug procurement process in the present MDA Government is a cause of great concern because the end sufferers are poor patients.
Why is the e-tendering process not observed by the Meghalaya Health Department? Isn’t this the most fair and transparent process for getting value for money from drugs manufacturers and suppliers? The Health Minister should be aware that healthcare is a fundamental human right Medicines are fundamental inputs in any public health system and often the most costly. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that public spending on pharmaceuticals in developing countries represents the largest health expenditure, after staff salary. India is a developing country with a very high population that lives below poverty line. The same is true of Meghalaya. Governments in developing countries need to have good medicine procurement policies to enable them to purchase quality medicines at a reasonable cost to make such medicines available to the poorest. In fact, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Target 8 E is to provide access to affordable essential medicines in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies. Sadly in India this is far happening. Pharmaceutical companies are in league with government health practitioners to push sub-standard or over-priced branded medicines. In Meghalaya the drug procurement procedure has always been inefficient, non-transparent, and corrupt because of non-accountability. Some drugs suppliers have controlled the Health Department for years and made brisk business out of peoples’ sufferings. This is possible because of a system of collusion between the drugs suppliers and officials in the Department.
Transparency and accountability are the main constituents of good governance and in no other sector is good governance more needed than the health sector.
