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Increasing pandemic frequency and increasing economic inequality are creating a self-reinforcing cycle. What’s needed is therefore a new, inequality-informed approach to pandemic preparedness. In addition to the authors, the Global Council on Inequality, AIDS, and Pandemics (http://www.inequalitycouncil.org) includes John E. Ataguba, Helen Clark, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Ingrid T. Katz, Ruth Laibon Masha, Richard Lusimbo, Rovshan Muradov, Javier Padilla Bernáldez, Mathume Joseph Phaahla, Erika Placella, Achal Prabhala, Peter Sands, Chadchart Sittipunt, Nísia Trindade, and Imraan Valodia. The Council is housed at the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS and the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Policy and Politics. Additional information about the Council members is provided in the Supplementary Appendix, available at NEJM.org.
Read the full article:
The Inequality–Pandemic Cycle — Rethinking Preparedness.pdf
Disparities in income and wealth are growing. A scientific assessment process can give governments the information they need to tackle them.
Increasing inequality demands action. The richest 10% of adults globally receive more than half (53%) of the world’s income, whereas the poorest half receives 8%. Wealth is even more concentrated, with the richest 10% owning around three-quarters of global wealth while the poorest half owns just 2%. Almost two-thirds of people live in countries where inequality is rising.
The consequences are well established. A growing body of research links higher income inequality to lower social mobility, poorer health outcomes, and slower economic growth. Unequal access to education, health care, housing and finance shapes the opportunities that direct people’s lives.
