Leading UN economists and public health specialists have warned that high levels of economic inequality make the world “more vulnerable” to pandemics, fueling a vicious cycle that threatens public health and economies.
This report, prepared for UNAIDS, is the result of two years of research conducted by the Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Epidemiology, led by experts including Nobel laureate in economics Joseph Stiglitz, former First Lady of Namibia Monica Giingos, and renowned epidemiologist Michael Marmot.
The report stated that “high levels of inequality within and between countries make the world more vulnerable to pandemics that become more economically impactful, more deadly, and longer-lasting.”
He added, “Pandemics, in turn, exacerbate inequalities, causing a vicious cycle that feeds on itself.”
This “pandemic-inequality cycle” has been observed during global health crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, AIDS, Ebola, influenza and hepatitis, according to experts who warn that “the failure to address fundamental inequalities and social determinants since Covid-19 has left the world highly vulnerable to and unprepared for new pandemics.”
They stressed that the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular, “has pushed 165 million people into poverty, while the wealth of the world’s richest people has increased by more than a quarter.”
Break the vicious circle
Monica Giingos stressed – in a statement – that inequality is “a political choice, and a dangerous choice that threatens everyone’s health.”
The report’s authors urged world leaders to improve pandemic preparedness by investing in social safety nets within their countries, while addressing problems of economic disparities at the global level, especially through debt restructuring in developing countries.
“Pandemics are not only health crises, but economic crises that can exacerbate inequality if politicians make the wrong policy choices,” Stiglitz said.
He added, “When efforts to stabilize economies affected by a pandemic are financed by raising interest rates on debt and adopting austerity policies, this deprives the health, education and social protection systems of resources. Societies consequently become less resilient and more vulnerable to pandemics.”
He continued, “Breaking this vicious cycle requires enabling all countries to have the necessary financial capacity to invest in health security.”
The report also recommended that health treatments and technologies be made more equitable, calling for the “immediate lifting of intellectual property rights” globally once a pandemic is declared.
In the coming days, Stiglitz is supposed to submit a report on inequality and poverty in the world to the leaders of the Group of Twenty, which represents the world’s largest economies, who will meet at a summit in Johannesburg at the end of this November.