Congo-Brazzaville: 'Irresponsible Officials' Put Patients at Risk

Posted to the web 2 October 2008 Brazzaville Health officials in some hospitals in Congo are putting patients' lives at risk by engaging in unethical practices, local human rights groups have warned. "The behaviour of such officials, notably their greed and the fraudulent sale of medicines, is a great obstacle to the right to healthcare," Maixent Fortunin Hanimbat, president of the rights group, Forum pour la gouvernance et les droits de l'homme (FGDH), said. "It is inconceivable that after making the trip to the hospital, when a patient is often very fragile, they are confronted by irresponsible health officials," he added. Government officials acknowledge the seriousness of the problem. "We need to expose those who take pleasure in taking money illegally from poor patients and punish them by law," Emilienne Raoul, the... [read full story]