Abstract:
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 financial 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 effects 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 financial institutions, health organisations, and financial donors should use their
power to demand policy reforms of health-care systems in Africa troubled by the issue of corruption. These
modifications 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