The disease of corruption hits Kenya’s health sector hardest

Patients jumps over the wall of the Mathare Mental Hospital at the start of a doctors strike that paralyzed operations at the facility on December 5, 2016. PHOTO: FILE

A recent headline designating Kenya’s health sector as the most corrupt, reminded me this is a global cancer — after all, corruption has been described as a disease.

When corruption infiltrates global health, it can be particularly devastating, threatening hard gained improvements in human and economic development, international security, and population health. Yet, the multifaceted and complex nature of global health corruption makes it extremely difficult to tackle, despite its enormous costs, estimated in billions of dollars.