The Covid-19 app that lasted two weeks: how technology may embody controversial public policies for health care and why we should worry about it

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes the case of a Brazilian government app (TrateCov) that was deployed for only 2 weeks during the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant. TrateCov was intended as a decision support tool to assist health care professionals with the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. After the tool was inadvertently released on a public Web site, it became accessible to anyone with an Internet connection, raising the risk of inappropriate self-management. Moreover, experts and journalists quickly spotted that almost all symptoms entered into the app resulted in a diagnosis of COVID-19, along with a recommendation to use the same ‘Covid kit’ of unproven drugs favored by leading politicians, and in the same doses for adults, children, and pregnant women. The institutional and social backlash was immediate, forcing the Brazilian Ministry of Health to take TrateCov offline. The case illustrates the potential for weak evidence and ideological bias to infiltrate digital health technologies, creating risks for patient safety and diversion of resources, thus emphasizing the importance of good governance at all stages of the innovation lifecycle. The speed of public health crises presents particular challenges for managing this phenomenon, calling for anticipatory steps to avoid such risk as part of responsible pandemic prevention strategies