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Home / Mass-Media / Events / Conclusion of the NAC: The fraudulent issuance of permissive documents by the National Agency for Public Health, seriously affects the business environment in the Republic of Moldova
Conclusion of the NAC: The fraudulent issuance of permissive documents by the National Agency for Public Health, seriously affects the business environment in the Republic of Moldova
29.06.2022
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The National Anticorruption Center has completed the assessment of institutional integrity at the National Agency for Public Health (NAPH). The NAC experts found that the fraudulent issuance of permissive documents, the assumption of excessive duties by some employees of the Public Health Centers and the gaps in the normative framework related to the public health field are among the factors that generate high risks of corruption within the institution. These deficiencies seriously violate human rights and have a negative impact on the business environment in the Republic of Moldova.
In the process of assessing the institutional integrity, several public officials with management and executive positions within NAPH were tested for professional integrity. The results show that about 20% of the tested officials showed professional integrity, and the rest of those tested admitted corruption or are prone to procedural violations in their work. During the testing period, the anti-corruption officers established that among the most serious violations detected are the issuance of sanitary permits for rooms that do not comply with sanitary norms and the creation of impediments to obtaining sanitary documents necessary for the operation of certain objectives. The amounts of money received by officials for illegally provided services varied between 200 and 1000 lei, it is mentioned in the Evaluation Report.
At the same time, the data regarding the permissive documents issued by the territorial subdivisions of NAPH in the period 2020-2021 were analyzed. Several irregularities admitted by the Agency's employees were found, such as the abusive issuance by NAPH officials of permissive acts within the competence of the National Food Safety Agency (NFSA), the abusive issuance of health permits in the absence of a permissive regulatory framework, but and the excessive or arbitrary issuance of health permits in areas and activities that are not regulated. At the same time, it was established that SE Moldova Railways issues sanitary authorizations for the operation of pharmacies on the territory of railway stations, this field being the exclusive competence of NAPH.
The existence of corruption risks in the activity of NAPH is also confirmed by the integrity incidents in which the employees of the institution were involved. Thus, in the period 2019-2021, the criminal investigation body of the NAC started over 100 criminal cases involving NAPH officials. The NAC evaluation report shows that the factors that determine these risks of corruption are also related to the poor implementation of anti-corruption measures.
More details about the results of the institutional integrity assessment at NAPH can be found in the NAC Report at: https://cutt.ly/lKKJg12
Note: Institutional integrity assessment is the tool by which the NAC identifies the risks of corruption in public entities, using analytical and practical methods, such as professional integrity testing, and makes recommendations on reducing incidents of corruption.