Health procurement: substandard medicines, Kimadia supply failures and stalled hospital projects (from 2008 to 2024)
Reporting since 2010 describes medicine bought abroad with little quality control through middlemen linked to officials, kickbacks to bureaucrats, chronic shortages in hospitals and diversion of drugs to private pharmacies; in 2012 the Health Ministry closed hundreds of unlicensed pharmacies and destroyed tons of expired medicine. In 2021 the Integrity Commission's fact-finding report on long-stalled Baghdad hospitals (400- and 600-bed projects idle for a decade) blamed repeated contract annexes for cost and time overruns and asked for funding to complete them.
- Period
- From 2008 to 2024
- Sector
- HealthKimadia (State Company for Marketing Drugs and Medical Appliances); hospital construction
- Kind of case
- Structural leakage
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved, according to the sources
Kickbacks in drug imports, acceptance of substandard or expired products, diversion to private market, and contract variations inflating hospital construction costs.
Open questions
- Integrity Commission convictions of Kimadia/MoH officials (from 2015 to 2026) with amounts.
- BSA reports on Kimadia procurement.
People and companies
This case does not name any person or company. It rests on figures and institutions.
Sources
- Musings on Iraq (blog, Joel Wing)31 May 2012Press reportTier D
Tons Of Expired Medicine Confiscated In Iraq Highlighting Institutional Corruption
OriginalThey usually involved kickbacks for bureaucrats as well in the deals.
- Independent Arabia27 April 2021Press reportTier D
كارثة ابن الخطيب تعيد فتح ملف المستشفيات المتلكئة في بغداد
Originalودعت "هيئة النزاهة الاتحادية" في تقرير لها بشأن تقصي الحقائق عن أسباب عدم إنجاز هذه المستشفيات