London
A new survey by Transparency International has found that 29% of EU residents used well-connected friends or family to receive medical care during the pandemic. At least 6% of people paid bribes to access health care.
The survey said 26.4% of respondents believed that corruption in Germany had increased over the past year
The coronavirus pandemic has worsened corruption across the European Union, Transparency International said on Tuesday.
In its annual Global Corruption Barometer report for the EU, the anti-graft watchdog called health care a ‘hotspot for corruption,’ adding that graft is of ‘particular concern during the current Covid-19 pandemic, when citizens urgently need medical support and vaccinations.’
Transparency International, headquartered in the German capital of Berlin, surveyed more than 40,000 people in the EU’s 27 member states between October and December 2020.
The survey found that 29% of the bloc’s residents have used personal connections such as well-connected friends or family to receive medical attention and 6% of people paid an outright bribe to receive health care.—Agencies
