IPSC opinion poll: healthcare sector singled out as most corrupted area in Armenia

YEREVAN, October 25. /ARKA/. Some 25% of an opinion poll held by the Institute of Political and Social Consulting (IPSC) singled out the healthcare sector as most corrupted area in Armenia.

The survey was conducted to determine the degree of transparency, achievements and faults in the government’s activity.

Respondents said that the system of state-paid healthcare services is dysfunctional in the country.

They also singled out bribery, shoddy services by unskilled specialists, wrong treatment, provision of drugs past their expiry dates, refusal to provide free medicament, mainly for diabetics, impunity, extortion for giving disability degrees and obstetrical services as commonplace phenomena in healthcare area.

The results of the survey show that justice system is the second most corrupted area in Armenia (19.7% of respondents).

Education sector came third (14.7%), tax and customs segment fourth (10.5%) and the police fifth (9.4%).

In subsection “Breach of Laws and Corruption in Government Institutions” medical centers scored 5.7 points in 10-poin scale.

Some 36% of respondents are convinced that laws are observed in medical establishments, 18.5% think they are breached sometimes, 45.1% said laws are breached often and 14.3% found it difficult to answer.

The poll shows that 20.8% of respondents think corruption in medical establishments subsided this year, 36.8% see no changes, 33.6% are convinced that it rose and 8.8% think there is no corruption here.

Universities scored six points on a ten-point scale of frequent breaches of the law and tax agencies and judicial institutions 5.9 points each.

The less corrupted establishments are local self-government institutions (3.9 points), military offices in charge of conscription (4.9 points) and schools (5.2 points).

Some 50% of respondents think corruption subsided in the traffic police, 44.9% think the corruption rate remained unchanged in cadastre system, and 37.7% are convinced it rose in education sector.

The results of the poll show that 31.4% of surveyed people see no corruption in local self-government institutions, 13.2% pointed out military offices in charge of conscription, 15.5% singled out schools, 8.8% healthcare centers, 7.8% tax agencies and 7.5% judicial system.

Some 1,619 people in age 18 and older were surveyed in March, June and September.

Of them, 571 were surveyed in Yerevan and 1,048 in provinces.

Some 19.4% of respondents were housewives, 16.1% unemployed people, 14.2% pensioners, 14% public sector’ workers, 9% private sector’s employees, 6.4% students and 3.5% entrepreneurs and workers. The Institute of Political and Social Consulting (IPSC) engaged in marketing studies, social surveys and consulting.

The IPSC has conducted 60 public opinion polls and surveyed 110,000 people in Yerevan and provinces for four years of its activity. -0-