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The U.S. Built a Hospital for Iraqi Children with Cancer. Corruption Ravaged It.

(Washington Post) Louisa Loveluck - In 2003, First Lady Laura Bush took a personal interest in the establishment of Basra's Children's Hospital as a world-class hospital for children with cancer, and the U.S. spent $103 million toward its completion. Today, the hospital is a casualty of an Iraqi health-care system so riddled with corruption that World Bank figures put it among the region's worst. According to Iraq's 2021 budget, $1.3 billion has been allocated in recent years for the building of hospitals alone, but the ministry serves as a cash cow for those who run it as money is skimmed off by officials and business executives. Contracts for the purchase of goods include vastly inflated sums. After a Turkish construction company was tapped in 2010 to build five medical facilities, the $750 million budget ran dry before two of them were completed. "Someone got paid such huge costs upfront, and the money disappeared," said a former government official. Kadhim al-Shimmari, a member of the Iraqi parliamentary committee that monitors corruption, said the construction money had been used for kickbacks to Health Ministry officials who awarded the contract, as well as for bribes to inspectors and local armed groups.
2021-12-23 00:00:00
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