It has been months since the COP10 delegates left Panama City but, it appears, their brief residency is still causing problems in the country. 

Just as when the circus big top leaves town, it is left to the locals to clear up the sawdust and litter, so it is that Panamanian authorities are still beset with the aftermath of the WHO event.  

Eldigital Panama reports that the contract for hosting the conference, awarded by the Ministry of Health (MINSA), has attracted a complaint of “alleged crimes of fraud in public procurement, illicit association, ideological falsehood and against computer security.”

Accusing MINSA of “deception”, the complainant alleges that the procurement process for awarding the contract was flawed, contravened “the principles of transparency, equality and free competition”, and demands that those responsible be brought to trial. 

This is yet more controversy for the organisers of COP10 after the country was outraged by the $4,881,732.20 spent for a tobacco conference while Panama’s health authorities were being starved of funding for incubators, as Copwatch reported last summer. 

Eldigital Panama further comments on how “the National Oncology Institute faces serious budgetary limitations.” It could well have benefitted from the funding allocated to a junket for highly-paid tobacco controllers to chit chat about banning reduced risk nicotine products and treat themselves to lavish hotels and fine dining in the welcoming Latin American climate. 

Copwatch mentioned last month that Dr Reina Roa, one of the WHO’s inner circle who has been elected President of the FCTC Bureau, would have been heavily involved in Panama’s preparation and implementation of dealings to host the COP10 conference. 

This new report submitted to the Attorney General’s Office was filed “against whoever is responsible” for these crimes. Maybe, considering Dr Roa’s familiarity with the process, she  could be of great assistance to the court by naming some names. 

Considering the trials and tribulations that Panama has suffered for hosting the COP10 conference, what are the chances of other countries queueing up to do so in the future? There were certainly no takers for COP11, the WHO did not receive a single application, hence why it is now being held at WHO HQ in Geneva.