Abstract

SILVA, Heslley Machado  and  AECHTNER, Thomas. Two right-leaning leaders in the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective assessment of Brazil and Australia. Rev Pan-Amaz Saude [online]. 2025, vol.16, e202501642.  Epub Sep 10, 2025. ISSN 2176-6215.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/s2176-6223202501642.

At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia and Brazil were led by right-of-center leaders who have each been compared to Donald Trump. Nevertheless, despite their right-leaning political parallels, the pandemic responses of Australia's Scott Morrison and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro were drastically different. Bolsonaro adopted a strategy characterized by denialism, the promotion of misinformation, and the politicization of healthcare, resulting in some of the world's worst COVID-19 outcomes. Meanwhile, Morrison largely pursued science-backed measures, including early border closures, rigorous quarantine protocols, supporting contact tracing capabilities, and implementing widespread PCR-based testing, which led to relatively low infection and death. This retrospective analysis highlights the significant impact of each right-leaning leaders' choices in navigating public health crises. This reveals that despite prevalent trends, right-of-centre politics can coincide with science-backed public health policy. It also underscores that even moderate adherence to science and responsible health policies can protect lives, regardless of political affiliation.

Keywords : COVID-19; Pandemic Response Plan; Leadership and Governance Capacity; Political Factors; Evidence-Informed Policy; Necropolitics.

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