(see related)
Raffaele Cantone, the head of
anti-corruption agency ANAC, said Wednesday that the health
sector was being targeted by a wide range of criminals.
"The health sector is a territory of raids for criminals
of all kind, given the enormous amount of business involved and
the fact that in a time of crisis the sector cannot be
underestimated," Cantone said at the presentation of a report on
graft in this field.
"(In Italy) we have a health system that guarantees very
high standards, but one should consider the fact that this
(graft) lowers the level of services".
He said one of the key issues was long waiting lists,
which can contribute to corruption, with patients being invited
to pay to get around them, as allegedly emerged in a case this
week involving doctors in the southern city of Salerno.
"We have put many new measures into place to fight
corruption in the health sector," he said at an event for the
first national day against corruption in health.
"We have drafted guidelines and identified the areas where
it is necessary to intervene.
"The first of these is the waiting lists, as well as areas
linked to the pharmaceutical companies and even the management
of the mortuaries.
"It would be good if the waiting lists could be
transparent, but that's difficult as privacy values are at
stake.
"But we have to intervene and cases like those in Salerno
disturb me.
"In our anti-corruption plan we have indicated the waiting
lists to be one of most critical areas.
"It's necessary to create anti-corruption antibodies in
the health system".
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