Primum Non Nocere: How to Fight the “Pandemic” of Healthcare Corruption

Abstract

During these times, the resilience of humankind is put to the test by the ravages of COVID-19. Besides the virus, endemic corruption becomes pandemic since some individuals seek unethical gains and peril others’ lives, engaging in corrupt, fraudulent behaviors. The Eastern European countries have been long marked by the influences of communism, which left developments challenging to surpass, one of which is corruption. However, after joining the European Union, some of these countries went through a “cleaning” process, and novel tools are being employed in combating this phenomenon, one of which is artificial intelligence. Starting from this idea, we built an index based on the Corruption Perceptions Index, the Global Health Security Index, and the Cisco Global Digital Readiness Index at the 28 EU member states (which include the Eastern European countries), China, and the United States. Based on the Digital Non-Corrupt Health Index, our findings confirm the “cleanest” countries and the less clean ones and reveal the progress made by some Eastern European countries, which are comparable to those of Western countries. The idea to employ AI to combat corruption in general and healthcare corruption, in particular, is gaining momentum and reveals new lines of action with higher efficiency. Given the global danger of illness, no one benefits from absolute protection. Therefore, the just consciousness of every individual who sees, judges, and watches the correctness of authorities’ exercise may come to the rescue. Thus, examples of appropriate anti-corruption tools must be known and shared.