Corruption and Covid-19’s Lethality: “So What?â€
Abstract
We aim to verify if there is an association between the level of corruption and the lethality on countries due to COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies provide evidence that corruption can harm health outcomes, especially in developing and under-developing countries where resources are already scarce. We apply a strictly quantitative approach using dispersion graphics analysis and Pearson’s correlation on 171 countries. On countries from America, Africa, Asia and Oceania we observed that as more corrupt the country, higher its lethality, although in Europe this association is inverted. We attribute this last result to the continent possess the elderly population among other continents, the fact that countries loosened to earlier measures of physical distancing and cases of corruption were reported in some countries with a low perception of corruption. Therefore, corruption remains an issue that needs more understanding so we can decrease its effects on health outcomes and save lives, particularly in countries with weak healthcare systems. Besides, the next pandemic is coming and we need to be prepared.
Keywords: Corruption, Healthcare system, Health outcomes, COVID-19, Lethality. ÂReferences
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