Conflict of interest as a topic of the CBA’s conference
On 25-26 June 2024, the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau organised a conference entitled ‘Conflict of Interest as a Prelude to Corruption’. The event was held under the patronage of the Minister of Health and the Minister of National Defence.
The Head of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, Ms Agnieszka Kwiatkowska-Gurdak, in her opening speech, highlighted the significance of the issue of conflict of interest and presented the activities that Bureau officers undertake in order to build a transparent and effective public administration.
The Minister Coordinator of Special Services was represented by Brig. Gen. (Res.) Stanisław Żmuda, M.D. On behalf of the Ministry of Health, the conference was attended by Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Health Marek Kos, M.D. Also present were representatives of the National Health Fund - NFZ Executive Filip Nowak PhD, NFZ Deputy Executives Miłosz Anczakowski and Marek Augustyn, President of the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System Daniel Rutkowski and Director of the Military Medical Institute Lieutenant General Professor dr hab. Grzegorz Gielerak, M.D. The conference was also attended by delegates from OLAF, The Supreme Chamber of Control (NIK), Public Procurement Office (UZP), the S. Batory Foundation, the Civil Service, the Police Headquarters, The Internal Security Agency (ABW), The National Revenue Administration (KAS), the Military Police, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Łódź, the Armament Agency, the Office of the Patient Ombudsman, and the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products.
The speakers introduced the issue of conflict of interest, not only from a national perspective, but also from an international and societal perspective. The representative of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), Ms Agnieszka Kuszka-Jagielska, presented the definition of conflict of interest in European Union legal acts and discussed examples of such actions. The social perspective of this issue was outlined by Professor of the SGH Warsaw School of Economics dr hab. Grzegorz Makowski from the Stefan Batory Foundation.
The plenary part was followed by a debate with the following panellists: Lieutenant General Professor dr hab. Grzegorz Gielerak M.D., Brig. Gen. (Res.) Stanisław Żmuda M.D., representatives of the Ministry of Health, Ms Katarzyna Galas and Mr Krzysztof Czajkowski, Ms Krystyna Patora from the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Łódź, Mr Tomasz Młynarski from the Office of the Patient Ombudsman and an officer from the CBA Analysis Department. During the discussion, in addition to the formal aspects, the issue of the patients’ perspective was raised, as well as that of persons directly covered by formal conflict of interest regulations.
On the other hand, speeches given by long-term practitioners – Mr Łukasz Andrzejczyk, representing the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System, or Ms Marlena Połetek-Fudala from the Supreme Chamber of Control – contributed to the discussion on the need to adapt actions in the area of conflict of interest to the constantly changing challenges. Another comments, presented by the representative of the Civil Service, counsellor Krzysztof Banaś, and representatives of the Public Procurement Office, Katarzyna Tyc-Okońska and Brygida Brańko, cannot be omitted. They pointed out how important procedures and the knowledge of appropriately selected experts are for the stabilisation of conflict of interest management. Educational challenges and the need to raise awareness in this area were discussed by the Head of the Control Proceedings Department of the Regional Office of the CBA in Wrocław.
The vibrant discussions during the conference provided an opportunity to exchange experiences and views of experts from a wide range of public institutions, and also indicated the need to organise more editions in the future.
CBA Press Team
