Abstract
This paper aims to analyze the global health crisis caused by COVID-19 and corruption aspects in Brazil. The pandemic brought several possibilities and opportunities for corruption. There is a major concern that the large amount of public funds involved may be appropriated by private and public agents and undermine the movements to slow down the outburst, spread, and containment of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the country. Due to the state of public calamity, there was a legal “relaxation” of public procurement rules in the country. Unfortunately, corruption may thrive during times of crisis, particularly in developing countries such as Brazil. Corruption may damage government’s response to the pandemic and certainly denies people’s access to the public health system. It is a study based on current legislation and specific works on corruption in the health sector. The recommendations in this paper indicate that transparency and accountability mechanisms in the public procurement process through industry self-regulation in collective action projects may improve and strengthen battling corruption and the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Brazil, as legislative changes may be difficult to be implemented in a short period of time in the country.
Highlights
Countries around the world face a global health crisis with the swift spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes—COVID-19
The recommendations in this paper indicate that transparency and accountability mechanisms in the public procurement process through industry self-regulation in collective action projects may improve and strengthen battling corruption and the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Brazil, as legislative changes may be difficult to be implemented in a short period of time in the country
The experience of previous epidemics provides a perfect environment for corruption to flourish and that guaranteed further loss of life and declined in public trust. This raises questions of whether corruption in Brazil is playing a role in the outbreak of the disease as well as whether emergency funds are being used appropriately in view of the “relaxation” of public procurement rules in the country
Summary
Countries around the world face a global health crisis with the swift spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes—COVID-19. More than 344,000,000 people have caught the virus and more than 5,000,000 have died in the battle against it. Brazil was selected as a target sample of this research for two primary reasons. It is a developing country where corruption is a major challenge. Corruption may thrive during times of crisis, in developing countries such as Brazil. This pandemic has exposed more than ever cracks in the health public systems worldwide and shown several possibilities and opportunities for corruption. Corruption may harm government’s ability to provide adequate health care mainly for those more in need (Al-Masbhi & Dureab, 2021)
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