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| Frauds by Mohammad Shahed and Dr. Sabrina are just a tip of iceberg of corruption during Covid-19 pandemic in Bangladesh (Photo: tbsnews.net) |
With more than 14.7 million infections and
610,000 deaths in over seven months, COVID-19 could well be a catalyst for social, political and
economic changes for good in the world.
Sadly,
it has done little to nothing to trigger any positive outcome by eliminating
social evils like corruption, both individual and institutional, in the
national and global orders heavily dominated by extreme globalization and
crony-capitalism.
Corruption
costs a staggering US$3.6 trillion each year, United Nations chief Antonio
Guterres said in 2018. Corruption in global health sectors is estimated at $455
billion annually, the highest, according to Berlin-based Transparency
International.
During
the COVID-19 outbreak, corruption has emerged in diverse and innovative forms
at the expense of human lives.
Somalia,
currently the world's most corrupt country, has seen medical equipment being
stolen from hospitals and sold in markets openly.
Zimbabwe
sacked its health minister for the purchase of low-quality testing kits. Greek
police are investigating a hospital for releasing elderly patients before they
had recovered from COVID-19 so that it could admit new patients for more
income.
In
March, police in London arrested a man for selling counterfeit testing kits.
Recently, a hospital in Amritsar, India, has been accused of issuing fake
COVID-19 positive certificates to healthy people to earn big money.
However, Bangladesh has moved extra miles in innovative and massive corruption. From buying substandard medical equipment to the distribution of food and cash aid to poor people, corruption has engulfed the entire COVID-19 response system in this South Asian country.
