A booming economy: that's the macro picture of China.

The micro picture unfortunately is not the same. A lot still needs to be done by the government and the people to right the wrongs and bring relief and happiness to the lives of the people. Sectors such as education and health still lack the efficiency seen in financial institutions and in industry.

Regrettably, such a state of affairs exists not because of lack of government policies but despite them. The government drafts plans, spends huge amounts of money and monitors the implementation of schemes in all the sectors, including education and healthcare.

But what happens in between renders all its efforts ineffective. The result is that the people suffer.

Yes, we are talking about bribery and corruption. Millions of yuan are lost to corrupt officials, who don't think twice before cheating the people of their rightful needs. The malaise exists in other sectors too, but causes the greatest harm in education and healthcare. That's because education and medical care are basic requirements (apart from food and shelter) for any decent society.

The Ministry of Health has launched a massive drive to clean up China's medical sector. This is a welcome move. But it may not be possible in this case for the sector to treat its own maladies. The reason for this is simple. As any qualified physician would tell you, the disease needs to be tackled in order to cure a patient, which in this case is the healthcare system.

Hence, establishing "a long-term effective mechanism" that will "eventually eradicate illegal deals and bribery" will be possible only if the core of the problem is tackled.

Everyone agrees that doctors in public hospitals are poorly paid. Even some fresh graduates recruited to management posts at multinational or major financial organizations can easily match their salary.

A source of discontent, this prompts them to seek illegal means to make a fast buck. So apart from organizing "information sessions" to educate everyone in the medical system "to increase their consciousness... to abide by the law and practise with integrity," attention should also be paid to their pay packets.

And instead of only targeting healthcare workers in our bid to clean the system, we should also target the companies responsible for graft in the first place.

Therefore, the call made by He Yong, the deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, to enlist the help of the media in busting large bribery scandals, is heartening.

He has asked investigators to pay attention to media reports for clues about corrupt officials, urging them to have the courage to pursue any case, irrespective of the "units or people involved."

In fact, investigators ought to pay more attention to the readers' letters in newspapers, as that's where many people prefer to speak out against corruption.

The media, for its part, could help by publishing accounts only after proper initial verification. This is vital in order to avoid sending investigators on wild goose chases. It's also important because, once investigators start using reports and letters as a source to fight graft, corrupt officials may let loose red herrings fabricated accounts could be published or broadcast simply to create confusion.

That is precisely why the fight against corruption has to be three-pronged. The government will do its best to improve the lives of ordinary people. The people have to help it by giving authentic accounts. And the media have to assure, as far as possible, that what they publish or broadcast is genuine.

Email: zouhr@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/16/2006 page4)