Corruption in health-care systems and its eff ect on cancer care in Africa

At the government, hospital, and health-care provider level, corruption plays a major role in health-care systems in Africa. The returns on health investments of international fi nancial institutions, health organisations, and donors might be very low when mismanagement and dysfunctional structures of health-care systems are not addressed. More funding might even aggravate corruption. We discuss corruption and its eff ects on cancer care within the African health-care system in a sociocultural context. The contribution of high-income countries in stimulating corruption is also described. Corrupt African governments cannot be expected to take the initiative to eradicate corruption. Therefore, international fi nancial institutions, health organisations, and fi nancial donors should use their power to demand policy reforms of health-care systems in Africa troubled by the issue of corruption. These modifi cations will ameliorate the access and quality of cancer care for patients across the continent, and ultimately improve the outcome of health care to all patients.