Authors ' conclusions There is a paucity of evidence regarding how best to reduce corruption .
Promising interventions include improvements in the  detection and punishment of corruption  , especially efforts that are coordinated by an independent agency .
Other promising interventions include guidelines that prohibit doctors from accepting benefits from the pharmaceutical industry , internal control practice s in community health centres , and increased transparency and accountability for co-payments combined with reduced incentives for informal payments .
Key messages The review suggests that some strategies to fight corruption in the health sector can have an effect on corruption .
This study shows that these strategies may have led to fewer patients giving their doctors informal payments ( low certainty evidence ) . •
The study suggests that this may have changed doctors ' attitudes about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on their choice of medicines ( low certainty evidence ) . •
We do n't know what the effects of these strategies have on healthcare or people 's health , or if these strategies had any harmful effects .
Background Corruption is the abuse or complicity in abuse , of public or private position , power or authority to benefit oneself , a group , an organisation or others close to oneself ; where the benefits may be financial , material or non- material .
It is wide-spread in the health sector and represents a major problem .
Objectives Our primary objective was to systematic ally summarise empirical evidence of the effects of strategies to reduce corruption in the health sector .
Our secondary objective was to describe the range of strategies that have been tried and to guide future evaluations of promising strategies for which there is insufficient evidence .
The extent to which increased transparency alone reduces corruption is uncertain .
Interventions to reduce corruption in the health sector What is the aim of this review ?
The aim of this Cochrane review is to assess the effectiveness of strategies to reduce corruption in the health sector .
Corruption can occur in any area of the health sector , and happens when people abuse their own position to benefit themselves , their organisation , or other people close to them .
It can take many forms , including bribes , theft , or giving incorrect or inaccurate information deliberately .
It can take money away from healthcare , lead to poorer quality care and make access to healthcare unfair , and often affects poor people the hardest .
A controlled intervention in reduction of redundant hospital days.
BACKGROUND Inappropriate use of hospital services , in the form of unjustified hospital stay days ( HSD ) , constitutes a major burden on a health budget . Reduction of unjustified HSD was achieved in a medical ward in a previous intervention study . METHODS A controlled intervention aim ed at reducing unjustified hospital stay was performed on 155 paediatric in patients and 248 controls , by applying pre-set criteria for hospitalization and comparing to results in previous studies . RESULTS Unjustified stay was decreased from 32.6 % to 14.8 % on the study ward , and from 25.7 % to 19.3 % on the control ward . The children on both wards did not differ significantly in rates of subsequent out of hospital mortality , re-admission , and the subjective evaluation of health by their parents one month following discharge . CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that despite the fact that the per cent of unjustified HSD on a paediatric wars is much lower than on medicine or surgery , a significant reduction in unjustified stay can be achieved by intervention programme
Authors ' conclusions There is a paucity of evidence regarding how best to reduce corruption .
Promising interventions include improvements in the  detection and punishment of corruption  , especially efforts that are coordinated by an independent agency .
Other promising interventions include guidelines that prohibit doctors from accepting benefits from the pharmaceutical industry , internal control practice s in community health centres , and increased transparency and accountability for co-payments combined with reduced incentives for informal payments .
Key messages The review suggests that some strategies to fight corruption in the health sector can have an effect on corruption .
This study shows that these strategies may have led to fewer patients giving their doctors informal payments ( low certainty evidence ) . •
The study suggests that this may have changed doctors ' attitudes about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on their choice of medicines ( low certainty evidence ) . •
We do n't know what the effects of these strategies have on healthcare or people 's health , or if these strategies had any harmful effects .
Background Corruption is the abuse or complicity in abuse , of public or private position , power or authority to benefit oneself , a group , an organisation or others close to oneself ; where the benefits may be financial , material or non- material .
It is wide-spread in the health sector and represents a major problem .
Objectives Our primary objective was to systematic ally summarise empirical evidence of the effects of strategies to reduce corruption in the health sector .
Our secondary objective was to describe the range of strategies that have been tried and to guide future evaluations of promising strategies for which there is insufficient evidence .
The extent to which increased transparency alone reduces corruption is uncertain .
Interventions to reduce corruption in the health sector What is the aim of this review ?
The aim of this Cochrane review is to assess the effectiveness of strategies to reduce corruption in the health sector .
Corruption can occur in any area of the health sector , and happens when people abuse their own position to benefit themselves , their organisation , or other people close to them .
It can take many forms , including bribes , theft , or giving incorrect or inaccurate information deliberately .
It can take money away from healthcare , lead to poorer quality care and make access to healthcare unfair , and often affects poor people the hardest .