Voluntarily Chinese medical staff turned in 240 million yuan
(US$30 million) in a crackdown on illegal "gifts" and commissions
and other corrupt practices in the country’s health system.
The authorities have investigated 2,535 reports of commercial
corruption in the medicine and medical appliance trade this year
involving 606 million yuan (US$77.69 million).
The State Council on Wednesday heard the government had taken
measures to end the trade such as reducing the price of medicines,
increasing penalties for illegal medical practitioners and those
publishing false medical advertising.
Former director of the Medical Apparatus Department under
China's State Food and Drug Administration, Hao Heping, was
sentenced to 15 years in prison on November 28 for taking bribes
and illegal possession of firearms. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate
People's Court also jailed ?Hao's wife, Fu Yuqing, for five
years for taking bribes.
Wang Zhenchuan, Deputy Procurator-General with the Supreme
People's Procuratorate, said earlier that corruption mainly
occurred in construction, land acquisition, ownership transfers of
state-owned enterprises, government procurement, medicine and
medical appliances trade, banking and securities and futures.
China had investigated 13,376 reports of commercial corruption
from August 2005 to October 2006, said sources with the Communist
Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
and Supervision.
The cases involved 3.76 billion yuan (US$482 million) while
3,128 cases involved civil servants including 71 officials at
department head level and 543 at county head level, sources
said.
This year 2.6 million government institutions and enterprises
have conducted internal regulation and correction. Institutions and
personnel have been urged to report immoral or irregular
transactions and submit income earned from such deals.
By the end of October the voluntarily submitted income totaled
410 million yuan. And the government has instituted 74,000
regulations and rules in different fields to combat commercial
corruption.
(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2006)