The Ministry of Public Health said on Wednesday that an employee was arrested for receiving a bribe of $80,000.
The MoPH said that the accused person has been referred to the Attorney General's Office and a team is set to investigate all the department employees involved with the Health Ministry's inventory.
The accused employee was arrested on Tuesday in the process of taking the $80,000 dollars.
On Tuesday, the Attorney General’s Office in a statement said an employee of the Ministry of Public Health was arrested on charges of taking a bribe of $80,000.
In related news, on Monday a report by Pajhwok Afghan News stated that 32 ventilators were "smuggled" from Afghanistan to Pakistan after they were “embezzled” from the Afghan Ministry of Public Health.
The report has been published based on documents seen by Pajhwok Afghan News that show that each of the devices is worth between $18,000 to $25,000 and the total value of the shipment was $600,000.
The deal was done through WhatsApp messages, according to the report.
Data by Ministry of Public Health shows that there are 314 ventilators in public hospitals and at least 40 of them are not functional.
The ministry also rejected the recent Pajhwok news report about the smuggling of ventilators to Pakistan, and said that it has 225 active ventilators in government hospitals. The ministry said that at least 600 ventilators have been purchased in Germany and will be brought to the country in the near future.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday acting Health Minister Mohammad Jawad Osmani, speaking in the high economic council headed by President Ghani, said that he spoke to the provincial health directorates and assured them of the existence of all ventilator devices that have been assisted by partner countries, and that the location of these devices had been confirmed.
He pledged that all submitted documents and the devices listed by serial number would be made available to the press and the people of Afghanistan.
President Ghani said that the Afghan government not only welcomes the broadcast of any kind of press report that leads to transparency and prevention of corruption, but also strongly supports the press in this area.
The high economic council appointed a committee to investigate the report and smuggling of ventilators and examine the issue impartially, seriously and accurately, in collaboration with the Public Media Commission, in the light of the evidence, and present their report to the president to ensure the transparency of the matter to the public.