BERLIN (AP) – The countries with the least corruption were best positioned to withstand the economic and health challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a closely monitored annual study released Thursday by an anti-graft organization.
Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures the perception of corruption in the public sector, according to experts and business people, concluded that countries that performed well have invested more in health care, were “better able to provide universal medical coverage and are less likely to violate democratic norms. ”
“COVID-19 is not just an economic and health crisis,” said Delia Ferreira Rubio, head of transparency. “It’s a corruption crisis – and we can’t handle it right now.”
This year’s index showed that the United States has reached a new low amid a steady decline under Donald Trump’s presidency, with a score of 67 on a scale where 0 is “extremely corrupt” and 100 is “very clean.” .
That put the United States in 25th place on a par with Chile, but behind many other Western democracies. It decreased from 69 scores in 2019, 71 in 2018 and 75 in 2017 and decreased to the lowest level because the figures for comparison were available.
“In addition to alleged conflicts of interest and abuse of office at the highest level, in 2020 the weak oversight of the $ 1 trillion COVID-19 aid package has raised serious concerns and marked a withdrawal from long-standing democratic rules that promotes responsible governance, “said the Berlin-based Transparency report.
The link between corruption and the coronavirus response could be widely seen around the world, according to the report’s analysis.
For example, Uruguay scored 71 – placing it 21st on the list. It invests heavily in health care and has a strong epidemiological surveillance system, which has helped not only with COVID-19, but also with other diseases such as yellow fever and Zika, Transparency said.
In contrast, Bangladesh, which ranked 26th and 146th on the list, “invests little in health care while corruption flourishes during COVID-19, ranging from bribery in health clinics to misappropriated aid”. wrote Transparency. “Corruption is also pervasive in the supply of medical supplies.”
Even in New Zealand, which ranked No. 1 as the least corrupt nation with a score of 88 and was praised for its response to the pandemic, there was room for improvement, Transparency noted.
“While the government is openly communicating about the measures and policies it is implementing, more transparency is needed in public procurement to recover COVID-19,” the organization wrote.
In total, out of 180 countries surveyed, two thirds scored below 50 out of 100, and the average score was 43.
Denmark and New Zealand tied for first place, the countries considered the least corrupt, with scores of 88, followed by Finland, Singapore, Switzerland and Sweden with scores of 85, Norway at 84, the Netherlands at 82 and Germany and Luxembourg at 80 for to round the top 10.
Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom finished 77th.
Somalia and South Sudan did the worst with scores of 12 to place them in 179th place, behind Syria with a score of 14, Yemen and Venezuela with 15, Sudan and Equatorial Guinea with 16, Libya with 17 and North Korea, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo with 18.
Since 2012, the first benchmark available using the current methodology, 26 countries have improved significantly, including Greece, which increased by 14 points to 50, Myanmar, which increased by 13 points to 28, and Ecuador, which increased with 7 points to 39.
At the same time, 22 countries fell significantly, including Lebanon, which fell by 5 points to 25, Malawi and Bosnia and Herzegovina, both by 7 points to 30 and 35, respectively.
___
Follow all AP pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
__