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94 Fighting the Diseases of Poverty
Figure 4 Comparison of purchase price difference for selected
medical supplies across public hospitals in four Latin
American countries
Ratio of highest to lowest price
40 Bolivia (1998)
35
30
25
Argentina (1997)
Venezuela (1998)
Colombia (1998)
20
15
10
5
0
Saline solution Cotton Dextrose Penicillin
Source: Di Tella and Savedoff, 2001
to significant losses, making it not so petty. Anecdotal evidence is
abundant, but hard evidence elusive. Qualitative work has
unearthed some strong perceptions and knowledge of petty theft
providing a sense of its importance, and lending credence to allegations
of theft.
Petty theft was considered very common in Costa Rican hospitals
where 83 per cent of nurses reported thefts (Di Tella and Savedoff,
2001), and in Venezuela where roughly two-thirds of health personnel
were aware of stolen materials, equipment or drugs (JaÎn and
Paravisini, 2001). In Peru, theft by both physicians and nurses was
viewed as the most common form of corruption, with the highest
estimated prevalence in Ministry of Health hospitals – 22 per cent,
double that reported for Social Security hospitals (Alc‡zar and
Andrade, 2001).