Viet
Nam Federation of Medical Associations chairman and former Deputy Minister of
Health Pham Manh Hung spoke to the Dai Doan Ket (Great Solidarity) newspaper
about bribes in the health sector.
How big a
problem is bribery in the medical profession?
Not all of doctors and healthcare workers are
willing to accept money from patients. Some are chased and forced to take the
money at all costs. Others are motivated to profit from patients' pain when
patients are forced to wait for a very long time for treatment, receiving
unnecessary medical tests, or scolded or treated coldly by doctors.
The persons giving the money also have
different motivations. Some give a gift of money to their doctors as a sincere
thanks after they or their relatives have been cured, supposing that the
doctors would use the cash for something they need. Others insist doctors must
accept their money right before a challenging operation. This is a kind of
‘contract', and doctors are then ‘obligated' to save the patient's life. In
such cases, doctors are in sensitive position if they fail and can lose face.
The envelop of cash can't be blamed for the
problem in large, central hospitals. The problem is how givers and receivers
treat the envelop.
So how do
you think doctors and patients should treat the envelop full of money?
The WHO talks about the problem in terms of
medical professionalism. I think the first criterium of medical professionalism
is that ‘patients come first'. Patients place all their trust in doctors, so
doctors should do anything they can to save patients. Patients should only
thank doctors, with sincerity, after they have been cured. If not, they are
helping ruin the medical ethics of doctors and healthcare workers. The act of
giving a bribe should be considered a crime because it is as serious as the
doctor profiting off of the suffering of patients.
You have
described bribery in hospitals a chronic social disease. Do you think it's
curable?
I said it is a chronic disease as it has been
left untreated for quite a long time. I also said it is a social disease as
many people seem to become infected by it at some time or other. I do believe
that it is curable once the Party imposes a comprehensive strategy on
healthcare services.
VNS
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