Aceso Global CEO Maureen Lewis published a response to a recent article by Hutchinson et al., “We need to talk about corruption in health systems,” in the International Journal of Health Policy and Management. In her response, she agrees with the authors’ argument regarding the need for greater attention to and work in corruption in health systems globally. She then lays out some of the rationale for how to define the pertinent research questions and how best to address corruption — arguing that governance rather than corruption may offer a preferred starting point. She concludes by highlighting options for measuring, analyzing and stemming corruption in healthcare.