News Flash 555: Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

News Flash Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

LIPARI island, Italy

News Flash 555

Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

 

World Medical Association: PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON A DRAFT REVISED VERSION OF THE DECLARATION OF HELSINKI (deadline by 7 February 2024)

Vacancy: Senior Project Officer Gender Advisor

To Build A Culture Of Health, We Must See How Culture Shapes Health

A Time to Choose: Utopia vs Dystopia? Democracy is Key

The development stories we’re watching at Davos 2024

Inequality Inc

Enough with the gloom. It’s time for humanitarians to tell a more realistic story

Cutting Through the Noise: Using AI for Development and Humanitarian Programs

MSF calls on European Parliament and Council to lift export prohibition in Union compulsory license

People’s Health Dispatch Bulletin #67: One hundred days of attacks on health in Gaza 

Shaping the future of global access to safe, effective, appropriate and quality health products

A new industrial deal to guarantee availability of critical medicines

WHO certifies Cabo Verde as malaria-free, marking a historic milestone in the fight against malaria

Ultrasensitive tools ‘detect asymptomatic malaria’

COVID Vaccines in European Region Reduced Mortality by 57%; WHO Warns of Waning Vigilance Regarding Virus Threats

Lessons For Global Health From COVID-19: Views From Sub-Saharan Africa

Complacency Has Replaced Alarm in the Newest COVID Surge

The U.S. Government and Global Tuberculosis Efforts

Efficacy and safety of fexinidazole for treatment of chronic indeterminate Chagas disease (FEXI-12): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, phase 2 trial

Advancing the “sexual” in sexual and reproductive health and rights: a global health, gender equality and human rights imperative

Here’s How We Can Improve Women’s Participation in International Trade For Economic Prosperity

WHO launches appeal for US$ 1.5 billion for key emergencies in 2024

Preventing famine and deadly disease outbreak in Gaza requires faster, safer aid access and more supply routes

Hunger, drought, child mortality in Africa fall out of focus

Africa: COP28 Just About Put Food Systems On the Climate Agenda. Now We Build

Ethiopia: Four Million Ethiopians On the Brink As Food Crises Escalate

Tobacco use declines despite tobacco industry efforts to jeopardize progress

World added 50% more renewable energy but more needed: IEA

Love For Future Generations Motivates People to Support Climate Action

World Bank chief predicts climate push can survive Trump

Climate advisors identify main gaps in EU’s post-2030 climate policy

 

 

 

 

News Flash 554: Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

News Flash Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

Smooth tubeworm (Protula tubularia)

News Flash 554

Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

 

SOAIDS Nederland Vacancy: Project Officer – grant and request for proposals management. You can apply until the 26th of January by uploading your motivation letter and cv on our application

A global development wake-up call in 2024

GLOBAL HEALTH TIMELINE 2024

2023: A Year in Review Through PEAH Contributors’ Takes  by Daniele Dionisio

Meeting registration: G2H2 policy debates ahead of WHO EB154

Tackling the crisis of the Italian National Health Fund

People’s Health Dispatch Bulletin #66: 2023’s end sees health struggles in Palestine, South Korea, Brazil

What next for Africa’s revamped health institutions?

What do we know about health spending in sub-Saharan Africa?

From Decision to Action: The Africa Epidemics Fund

Colonisation and its aftermath: reimagining global surgery

The health dimensions of violence in Palestine: a call to prevent genocide

The Pandemic as Tipping Point, Revisited  by Ted Schrecker

COVID-19 human challenge trials and randomized controlled trials: lessons for the next pandemic

What to Know About JN.1, the Latest Omicron Variant

Gavi Board must make catch-up vaccination a priority when allocating leftover COVAX money

Gamal Shiha: eliminating hepatitis C

Scientists hail new antibiotic that can kill drug-resistant bacteria

Drug resistance, HIV hampering fight against tuberculosis in Moldova

Uptake of orphan drugs in the WHO essential medicines lists

Neglected Tropical Diseases: Lessons for Future Pandemics and Global Health Preparedness  by Kirubel Workiye Gebretsadik

Securing access to essential medicines in  Europe – Unpacking the potential of the EU List of Critical Medicines

Addressing tobacco industry influence in tobacco-growing countries

Women with disability battle sexual health challenges

THE CASE FOR CHWS: CHAMPIONS OF THE HEALTH SYSTEM

There’s no such thing as social cohesion! What aid actors need to understand about the social relations of displaced people

Vietnam’s ‘broken bears’

France drops renewables targets, prioritises nuclear in new energy bill

Gigantic solar farms of the future might impact how much solar power can be generated on the other side of the world

Poland’s Clean Household Energy Initiative Should Save Over 21 000 Deaths Annually from Air Pollution by 2030

Cooperative Farming Makes Bangladesh’s Coastal Women Farmers Climate-Resilient

Mixed Results from India’s Five-Year Campaign to Cut Air Pollution

 

 

 

 

 

The Pandemic as Tipping Point, Revisited

IN A NUTSHELL
Editor's note

Insightful reflections here by professor Theodore Schrecker, whereby new arguments add to perception, as highlighted in a two-part blog recently published on PEAH, that Covid-19 pandemic just represented a tipping point into a new normal of even greater inequality, with predictably negative effects on health

By Ted Schrecker

Emeritus Professor of Global Health Policy at Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University

The Pandemic as Tipping Point, Revisited

 

The headline of a May, 2023 New York Times story about the fate of the United States policy response to the Covid-19 pandemic read: “The U.S. Built a European-Style Welfare State. It’s Largely Over.”  The headline succinctly captures the speed with which economic and social policy has returned to business as usual, even more quickly than was the case after the 2007-2008 financial crisis.  What once seemed promising opportunities to “build back better” – rhetoric that was adopted by the Biden White House, among others – have now been abandoned, with the partial exception of some countries’ green industrial policies.  Even these appear largely confined to writing large cheques to transnational corporations.

In spring of 2023, I wrote a two-part post in which I predicted that the pandemic was likely to represent a tipping point into a new normal of even greater inequality, with predictably negative effects on health.  The tipping point concept is most familiar from the science of global environmental change, but has broader applicability.  On one definition, “a tipping point is a threshold at which small quantitative changes in the system trigger a non-linear change process that is driven by system-internal feedback mechanisms and inevitably leads to a qualitatively different state of the system, which is often irreversible.”  An academic version of the argument in my spring post, with updated and more extensive documentation, has now been published in Health and Human Rights Journal, as part of a special section on inequality and the human right to health.

In the article, I focus on three aspects of the post-pandemic world.  The first is the extreme concentration of wealth at the top of national and global economic distributions, and the corollary influence of the ultra-wealthy.  Well before the pandemic Brooke Harrington, a sociologist who trained as a financial adviser to the one percent as part of her research, warned that “many countries are already more receptive and accessible to wealth managers, who are acting on behalf of the world’s richest people, than they are to elected representatives from their own governments …. [T]he high-net-worth individuals of the world are largely ungoverned, and ungovernable.”  The pandemic has only magnified their influence, by making them even richer.

The second is the accumulation of wealth across a broader stratum of the population, leading to what one important recent article describes as “a much wider middle-class politics of asset appreciation – a politics that has come to centre on housing in particular” and has its origins in the financialization of housing after the 2007-2008 crisis.  Above and beyond short-term effects on political allegiances, this will have knock-on effects on inequality as, for example, the US$6 trillion added to the housing wealth of US households during the pandemic is transferred intergenerationally.  For those not benefiting from growing housing wealth, a crisis of housing affordability that was already evident in much of the world pre-pandemic threatens to last for a generation, in many cases compounding insecurities related to employment.

A third element is the persistence of neoliberal or market fundamentalist ideology, which acts as a straitjacket on economic and social policy by limiting what is thinkable in the policy universe.  Thus, even parties on the electoral left are largely silent on the topic of improving the progressivity of taxation, and many have conspicuously rejected any form of wealth tax, even though economists including the 2023 winner of the American Economic Association’s John Bates Clark medal have convincingly refuted claims that such a tax would be difficult to implement.   An intriguing and promising exception to neoliberal hegemony on tax matters is the global minimum corporate tax agreement in which more than 130 countries have sought to reduce corporate tax avoidance.  Implementation is scheduled to begin in 2024, but as the Economist drily noted, “the fanfare” when it was announced “underplayed quite how much of the nitty-gritty was still to be worked out”.  The agreement’s effectiveness hinges on consistent national implementation, which is hard to envision in the context of (for example) a probable second Trump presidency.  Meanwhile, roadblocks to more progressive taxation of other kinds probably mean the end of viable tax-funded universal health coverage in countries like Canada and the United Kingdom, where underfunded care provision is in a state of deepening crisis doggedly ignored by the political class.

It is now more than 15 years since the WHO’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health began its landmark report by observing that “unequal distribution of health-damaging experiences is not in any sense a ‘natural’ phenomenon but is the result of a toxic combination of poor social policies and programmes, unfair economic arrangements, and bad politics.”  Reference to social determinants of health in the research literature has blossomed (Figure 1), but the bad politics seem if anything more entrenched than ever.  Few political actors share the clarity and commitment of Boston’s Ayanna Pressley in the 2018 election campaign that took her to the US House of Representatives:

“Today, when you board the [Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s] number 1 bus in Cambridge, it’s less than three miles to Dudley Station in Roxbury, but by the time you’ve made the 30-minute trip, the median household income in the neighbourhoods around you have dropped by nearly $50,000 a year.  As the bus rolls through Back Bay, the average person around you might expect to live until he or she is 92 years old, but when it arrives in Roxbury, the average life expectancy has fallen by as much as 30 years. …. These types of disparities exist across the 7th District, and they are not naturally occurring; they are the legacy of decades of policies that have hardened systemic racism, increased income inequality, and advantaged the affluent.”

What to do about those policies is the challenge, made more formidable than ever by various ways in which the pandemic ratcheted up economic inequality and made yet more resources available to the wealthy promoters of “zombie neoliberalism.”

 

Author’s note: Some of the hyperlinks in this post may be paywalled.  If you encounter difficulty accessing sources, contact me (tschrecker@gmail.com) and I will try to send them on.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR ON PEAH 

The Covid-19 Pandemic as Tipping Point (Part 2)

The Covid-19 Pandemic as Tipping Point (Part 1)

Globalization and Health: Looking Backward, Looking Forward

New Year, New Lockdown in the United Kingdom: ‘The Great Deception’

No Exit? The United Kingdom’s Probable Russian Future

Whistling Past the Graveyard of Dreams: Hard Truths About the Likely Post-Pandemic World

Plague and Depression in the Just-In-Time World

Why No Talk of an Inequality Emergency?

Revelation! The International Monetary Fund Discovers Tax Avoidance and Capital Flight

‘Lifestyle Drift’, Air Pollution and the World Health Organization

Public Finance and Public Health

What Public Health Policy Can Learn from the Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman

On Health Inequalities, Davos, and Deadly Neoliberalism

Environment and Health in the Anthropocene

Brexit can be Hazardous to our Health

‘Neoliberal Epidemics’ in Global Context

NTDs: Lessons for Future Pandemics and Global Health Preparedness

IN A NUTSHELL
Editor's note

Since the COVID-19 pandemic took everyone off guard, it is imperative that everyone be prepared for global health emergencies. Notwithstanding, before to the advent of COVID-19, millions of individuals in developing nations were silently afflicted by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Resilient people are severely impacted by these illnesses, which are frequently ignored by more well-known health issues. The lessons that neglected tropical diseases can impart to us about pandemic preparedness and future outbreaks will be discussed in this blog article. We can enhance our ability to respond to future health emergencies and guarantee the health and well-being of people everywhere by being aware of the difficulties associated with managing NTDs and the tactics used to deal with them

By Kirubel Workiye Gebretsadik

Medical Doctor, Ras Desta Damtew Memorial Hospital

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  

  Neglected Tropical Diseases: Lessons for Future Pandemics and Global Health Preparedness

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to work towards the ultimate goal of a world free of the burden of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). These goals encompass a vision of a world population for whom equality of opportunity and of health are fundamental. This work is described in the NTD road map 2021–2030(1,2).

Understanding neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of infectious diseases that predominantly affect the world’s poorest populations in tropical and subtropical regions. Despite their devastating impact on individuals and communities, NTDs often do not receive the same attention and resources as other global health issues. However, the lessons learned from addressing NTDs can provide valuable insights for future pandemics and global health preparedness. One key aspect of understanding NTDs is recognizing their diverse nature(3). NTDs encompass a wide range of diseases, including dengue fever, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis, among others. These diseases are often intertwined with poverty and lack of access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare. Understanding the complex socio-economic factors that contribute to the spread and persistence of NTDs is crucial in developing effective strategies to combat them. Another important aspect of NTDs is their impact on marginalized communities. These diseases disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, such as rural communities, and those living in remote areas with limited healthcare infrastructure(4). The burden of NTDs continues to be unequally borne by a small number of countries: 16 countries bear 80% of this burden. Slower than expected progress in high burden countries, uneven progress across certain of the 20 diseases and disease groups, persistent underlying risk factors (poverty, climate change) and rapid population growth are all threats to achieving the 2030 targets within the defined timescales(5). By addressing NTDs, we can learn valuable lessons about the importance of equity and inclusivity in global health interventions. Moreover, the control and elimination of NTDs require a multi-sectoral approach. Collaboration between governments, non-governmental organizations, academia, and industry is essential in developing innovative solutions, implementing preventive measures, and delivering effective treatments. This multidisciplinary approach can serve as a blueprint for future pandemics, emphasizing the need for cooperation and coordination across various sectors and stakeholders. Furthermore, NTDs highlight the significance of community engagement and empowerment. Local communities play a critical role in disease prevention, early detection, and treatment adherence. Empowering communities with knowledge, resources, and tools can enhance their capacity to tackle NTDs and can be applied to promote community resilience during pandemics. In conclusion, understanding neglected tropical diseases provides valuable insights and lessons for future pandemics and global health preparedness. By recognizing the diverse nature of NTDs, addressing their impact on marginalized communities, adopting a multi-sectoral approach, and engaging with local communities, we can strengthen our capacity to mitigate the impact of diseases and ensure a more equitable and resilient global health system.

Lessons for global health preparedness

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need of being prepared for global health emergencies and the necessity of developing efficient methods to fight infectious illnesses. Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) provide important insights that can be used to address pandemics and other global health problems in the future. The importance of early discovery and quick action is one of the most important lessons to be learned from NTDs. Numerous NTDs, like the Zika virus and dengue fever, have demonstrated the disastrous effects of postponing treatment.

Therefore, early detection methods, timely diagnosis, and quick control measure implementation should be given top priority in terms of global health preparedness. The value of community involvement and empowerment is a further lesson. Disadvantaged and marginalised groups are primarily impacted by NTDs. Involving communities in decision-making processes, ensuring access to healthcare resources, and addressing social determinants of health are critical to effectively combating chronic diseases(6). This strategy fosters resilience and trust in communities while also increasing the efficacy of interventions. Moreover, it is impossible to ignore how NTDs are interrelated and how they affect larger health systems. The strain on healthcare systems is increased when NTDs coexist with other health issues.  To enhance global health preparedness, a holistic and integrated approach is essential. This entails strengthening healthcare infrastructure, improving laboratory capacity, and promoting cross-sector collaborations. Lastly, NTDs highlight the importance of research and innovation in global health preparedness. Through research, we can better understand the epidemiology, transmission dynamics, and potential interventions for both NTDs and emerging infectious diseases(7). This knowledge can inform the development of diagnostic tools, therapeutics, and vaccines, equipping us with the necessary tools to respond effectively to future pandemics. In conclusion, neglected tropical diseases serve as a valuable source of lessons for global health preparedness, and there are important lessons to be learned about global health preparedness from neglected tropical diseases. Our ability to respond to future pandemics will be improved, and a more prepared and resilient global health landscape will result from placing a higher priority on early detection, community participation, improving the healthcare system, and research and innovation.

Strategies to combat neglected tropical diseases

When it comes to combating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), there are several key strategies that have proven to be effective. These strategies not only help in addressing the burden of NTDs but also serve as valuable lessons for future pandemics and global health preparedness(2,8,9):

  • Mass Drug Administration (MDA): MDA involves the distribution of preventive chemotherapy to entire at-risk populations, regardless of infection status. This approach has been successful in controlling diseases like lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, and schistosomiasis.
  • Integrated Vector Management (IVM): Many NTDs are transmitted through vectors like mosquitoes, flies, and snails. IVM focuses on controlling these vectors through a combination of approaches, including insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying, larval source management, and environmental modifications. By targeting the vectors, IVM helps to interrupt disease transmission and reduce the burden of NTDs.
  • Improved Access to Safe Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH): Addressing NTDs requires a multi-sectoral approach that includes improving access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. Good WASH practices, play a crucial role in preventing NTDs like trachoma and soil-transmitted helminthiasis.
  • Strengthening Health Systems: To effectively combat NTDs, it is crucial to strengthen health systems in endemic areas. This includes training healthcare workers, improving diagnostic capabilities, enhancing surveillance systems, and ensuring the availability of essential medicines and supplies. A robust health system ensures early detection, prompt treatment, and effective management of NTDs
  • Cross-Sector Collaboration and Partnerships: Combating NTDs requires collaboration among multiple sectors, including health, education, water, sanitation, and agriculture.

Leveraging resources, sharing expertise, and implementing comprehensive solutions necessitates partnerships with academic institutions, communities, governments, and non-governmental organizations. These partnerships encourage creativity, resource mobilization, and long-term approaches to NTDs. By putting these ideas into practice, we can not only make great strides towards managing and eradicating neglected tropical diseases, but we can also learn important lessons for pandemic preparedness and future outbreaks(4). A better and more resilient world can be ensured by utilizing the information and experiences obtained from battling NTDs to develop tactics that work, fortify health systems, and improve our capacity to respond to health risks in the future.

Conclusion

In conclusion, NTDs provide us with important lessons for future pandemics and global health preparedness. These diseases, often affecting the most vulnerable populations in low-resource settings, have long been overlooked and underestimated. However, the current global health crisis has shed light on the interconnectedness of our world and the urgent need for proactive measures to prevent and control diseases. One key lesson we can learn from NTDs is the importance of early detection and rapid response. By implementing robust surveillance systems and investing in diagnostic tools, we can identify outbreaks swiftly and take immediate action to contain the spread. Additionally, the need for effective communication and collaboration among different stakeholders cannot be overstated. Global health agencies, governments, researchers, and communities must work together to develop and implement comprehensive strategies that address the social, economic, and environmental factors contributing to these diseases. Furthermore, NTDs highlight the significance of equity in healthcare. The disproportionate burden faced by marginalized communities underscores the urgency for inclusive and accessible healthcare systems. As we face the challenges of future pandemics, it is crucial to prioritize the needs of disadvantaged populations and ensure equitable access to prevention, treatment, and care. Lastly, the lessons learned from neglected tropical diseases emphasize the importance of investing in research and innovation. By supporting scientific advancements and fostering collaborations, we can develop effective interventions and technologies to combat emerging infectious diseases. This includes the development of new diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines, as well as the exploration of non-traditional approaches such as vector control and community engagement. In summary, NTDs serve as a reminder of the critical need for global health preparedness. By applying the lessons learned from these diseases, we can build resilient health systems, enhance surveillance and response capabilities, promote health equity, and foster innovation. On 31 May 2021, the World Health Assembly (WHA) recognized 30 January as World Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Day through decision WHA74(18). Through a comprehensive and collaborative approach, we can better prepare ourselves for future pandemics and ultimately improve the overall well-being of our global community.

 

References

  1. Neglected tropical diseases [Internet]. [cited 2023 Dec 31]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/neglected-tropical-diseases
  2. Neglected tropical diseases — GLOBAL [Internet]. [cited 2023 Dec 31]. Available from: https://www.who.int/health-topics/neglected-tropical-diseases
  3. Engels D, Zhou XN. Neglected tropical diseases: an effective global response to local poverty-related disease priorities. Infectious Diseases of Poverty. 2020 Jan 28;9(1):10.
  4. NTDs in Focus [Internet]. The END Fund. 2017 [cited 2023 Dec 31]. Available from: https://end.org/ntds-in-focus/
  5. Molyneux D. Neglected tropical diseases. Community Eye Health. 2013;26(82):21–4.
  6. Neglected Tropical Diseases – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics [Internet]. [cited 2023 Dec 31]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/neglected-tropical-diseases
  7. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) | DNDi [Internet]. [cited 2023 Dec 31]. Available from: https://dndi.org/diseases/neglected-tropical-diseases/
  8. Molyneux DH, Asamoa-Bah A, Fenwick A, Savioli L, Hotez P. The history of the neglected tropical disease movement. Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2021 Jan 28;115(2):169–75.
  9. CDC – Neglected Tropical Diseases – Global NTD Programs [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2023 Dec 31]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/ntd/global_program.html

 

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By the same Author on PEAH

Forgone Health Care Among Patients With Cardiovascular Disease

UNMET HEALTHCARE 

Malaria Eradication and Prevention through Innovation 

ONE HEALTH ONE WORLD

Social Innovation in Healthcare

2023: A Year in Review Through PEAH Contributors’ Takes

Contributors’ takes all over the 2023 meant a lot to PEAH scope and aims. Find out here the relevant links whereby health access gaps and challenges worldwide are tackled from an equity based multidisciplinary perspective

 By Daniele Dionisio*

PEAH – Policies for Equitable Access to Health

 2023: A Year in Review Through PEAH Contributors’ Takes

 

Just at the beginning of a new year, I wish to pay homage to the many top thinkers, either stakeholders or academics, who contributed articles all over the 2023. My deepest gratitude goes to each of them. As invaluable food for thought, their insightful reflections meant a lot to PEAH scope and aims, while adding to debate worldwide how to equitably address health priority challenges (including, though not limited to, climate safeguarding, fair access to care, medicines and food, protection of disadvantaged/discriminated people and cultural diversity) from a view encompassing the policies, strategies and practices of all involved actors.

Find out below the relevant links:

Towards a WISE – Wellbeing in Sustainable Equity – New Paradigm for Humanity  by Juan Garay 

Scared New World  by Brian Johnston 

Scientific Perspectives on Climate Change and its Influence on the Spread of Infectious Diseases  by Nicolas Castillo

Frustrations of a Lifelong Global Issues Activist  by Claudio Schuftan 

Who Suffers Most: The Visibility of Children and Older People in Prison  by Philip J Gover 

The Effects of the Onslaught of COVID-19 and its Impact on the Environmental Laws  by Tanushree Mondal 

Snapshot of Food Fortification History in the United States  by Sharman Apt Russell 

Rapid Diagnosis of Dengue: a Crucial Tool in Global Healthcare  by Nicolas Castillo 

WHO, the Right to Health and the Climate Crisis – What Advice for the ICJ?  by David Patterson 

The Gray Houses Polio Eradication Initiative: A Case Study on Identifying and Vaccinating Hidden Children by Muhammad Noman 

Preparing for the Future: The Vitality of an Effective Testing Strategy in Future Pandemics  by Nicolas Castillo 

Karnataka Multisectoral Nutrition Pilot Project (2014-2018): Some Significant New Evidence Based Findings and Need for Further Research by Veena S Rao 

The “One Size Does Not Fit All” Podcast Series  by Biljana Grbevska 

Reflections About Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the Health Sector  by Raymond Saner

The Positive Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Future Pandemics  by Nicolas Castillo 

Making Billions for Billions: Unleashing the Power of Social Entrepreneurship  by Sumedha Kushwaha 

Earth Future: Time for a Global ‘Reset’!  by George Lueddeke 

Strategic Litigation and Social Mobilisation: Part of Public Health’s Advocacy Toolbox to Address the Climate Crisis  by David Patterson 

Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prioritizing the Health and Well-being of Refugees and Migrants in Libya  by Meftah Lahwel 

The Value of Communication in a Pandemic  by Nicolas Castillo 

Refugees and Migrants Access to Healthcare in Libya: Challenges and the Way Forward  by Meftah Lawhel 

Workshop: Engaging Women in Nature-Based Solutions to Improve Livelihood, Ecosystem Conservation; Resilience to Climate Change and Peace Building in Bugesera; Rwanda  by Innocent Musore 

Forgone Health Care Among Patients With Cardiovascular Disease  by Kirubel Workiye Gebretsadik 

The Covid-19 Pandemic as Tipping Point (Part 2) by Ted Schrecker 

Epidemiological Surveillance in Pandemics  by Nicolas Castillo 

The Level of Awareness and Impact of Ebola Outbreak on Access, Use and Adherence to HIV Treatment and Preventive Care, Psychological and Socioeconomic Well-Being of Female Sex Workers in the Ebola High Risk Districts in Uganda by AWAC Uganda 

The Covid-19 Pandemic as Tipping Point (Part 1)  by Ted Schrecker 

SEE WHAT MATTERS: Combating Stigma to End HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA)  by Olga Shelevakho 

Balochistan Primary Healthcare: What Has Been Done and What Needs to Improve?  by Muhammad Noman 

Decision Makers’ Perception of the Performance and Salary of UC Polio Officers in Pakistan  by Muhammad Noman 

A Renewed International Cooperation/Partnership Framework in the XXIst Century  by Juan Garay 

Polio Eradication Programme in Pakistan: Critical Analysis from 1999 to 2023 by Muhammad Noman 

UNMET HEALTHCARE by Kirubel Workiye Gebretsadik

Effective Communication in Pandemics: Lessons Learned from Covid 19  by Nighat Khan 

START: Stop Tobacco with Assistance and Recover Today  by Sumedha Kushwaha 

Shifting Sands – Health in a Changing World  by Brian Johnston 

Risk Factors or Determinants: The NCDs Debate by Claudio Schuftan 

Oregon’s Health Equity and Additional Equity Focuses  by Susan M. Severance

 

The contributions highlighted above add to PEAH internal posts published in the year. Find the links below:

2022: A Year in Review Through PEAH Contributors’ Takes  by Daniele Dionisio

Not Utopia: Healthy Lives for All in Post-Pandemic World  by Daniele Dionisio

Right to a Healthy Environment Global Coalition -which PEAH is a member- Wins UN Human Rights Prize  by Daniele Dionisio

 

In the meantime, our weekly column PEAH News Flash has been serving as a one year-long point of reference for PEAH contents, while turning the spotlight on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to the equitable access to health in resource-limited settings.

 

——————————————————

*Daniele Dionisio is a member of the European Parliament Working Group on Innovation, Access to Medicines and Poverty-Related Diseases. Former director of the Infectious Disease Division at the Pistoia City Hospital (Italy), Dionisio is Head of the research project  PEAH – Policies for Equitable Access to Health. He may be reached at: danieledionisio1@gmail.com  

 

PEAH collaborates with a number of non-profit entities. These include, among others:

G2H2Geneva Global Health Hub

CEHURD – Center for Human Rights and Development

Center for the History of Global Development

Viva Salud

Asia Catalyst

MEZIS

ATTAC

Wemos

Social Medicine Portal

Health as if Everibody Counted

COHRED’s Research Fairness Initiative (RFI)

AFEW International

TranspariMED

Medicines and Ethics, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp

Alliance of Women Advocating for Change (AWAC) 


Want to Contribute an Article to PEAH?

PEAH-Policies for Equitable Access to Health aims to tackle ALL health priority challenges relevant to -though not limited to- climate safeguarding, fair access to care, medicines and food, disadvantaged/discriminated people and cultural diversity protection from a view encompassing the policies, strategies and practices of all involved actors.

Inherently, PEAH focus encompasses the best options for use of trade and government rules, the effects of current international agreements and intellectual property standards, the opportunities offered by new financing mechanisms and innovation models, and the ways for better coherence, coordination and collaboration among stakeholders supposed to streamline access to health priorities

By Daniele Dionisio

PEAH – Policies for Equitable Access to Health

Want to Contribute an Article to PEAH?

 

A platform maintained by Daniele Dionisio*PEAH – Policies for Equitable Access to Health serves as an internationally oriented blog backed by academics and stakeholders from a number of organisations worldwide.

Not an indexed journal, PEAH runs without any monetary grant/funding/support. Nonetheless, it benefits from world scale audience actively coming to the website, while relying to date on around eight thousand regular followers whose numbers are on the rise on daily basis.

People from leading centres and institutions continue writing articles for PEAH, as shown by our Featuring section (see also links to 2023 2022  2021 and 2020  external contributions).

WILLING TO CONTRIBUTE AN ARTICLE?

Spontaneous submissions in the form of articles, editorials and blogs are welcome. Pieces dealing with the priorities and challenges first and foremost in the resource-limited countries, including for fair access to high-quality health treatments and care, food, and for climate safeguarding would be to the point.

PEAH aims to face, indeed, ALL health priority challenges relevant to -though not limited to- climate safeguarding, fair access to care, medicines and food, disadvantaged/discriminated people and cultural diversity protection from a view encompassing the policies, strategies and practices of all involved actors.

Inherently, PEAH focus encompasses the best options for use of trade and government rules, the effects of current international agreements and intellectual property standards, the opportunities offered by new financing mechanisms and innovation models, and the ways for better coherence, coordination and collaboration among stakeholders supposed to streamline access to health priorities.

No editorial requirements nor limits as regards the length and structure of your contribution, and you are invited to incorporate references as hyperlinks directly in the text.

Upon editor’s acceptance, your manuscript will enjoy free of charge, immediate online publication for circulation throughout PEAH network** and sharing on social media platforms.

You are free to re-publish your piece from PEAH, provided that PEAH quotation as the original source is included together with proper web-link.

If you wish to contribute, please submit to PEAH editor at danieledionisio1@gmail.com

 

* Daniele Dionisio is a member of the European Parliament Working Group on Innovation, Access to Medicines and Poverty-Related Diseases. Former director of the Infectious Disease Division at the Pistoia City Hospital (Italy), Dionisio is Head of the research project PEAH - Policies for Equitable Access to Health

** PEAH network includes, among others, the EU Parliament Group on “Innovation, Access to Medicines and Poverty-Related Diseases”, representatives at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Directorate General for Development Cooperation in Rome, leaders from academia worldwide, managers from emerging economies' drug industries and executives from UN agencies, Medecins Sans Frontieres and international NGOs, the Global Fund, Knowledge Ecology International, Indian Council of Medical Research, Quamed, Oxfam, SciDev.net, Devex, Health Property Watch, I-MAK, AFEW, Wemos, DNDi, the Italian National Institutes of Health,...

News Flash 553: Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

News Flash Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

Cleaver wrasse (Xyrichtys novacula)

News Flash 553

Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

 

Wrapping up 2023 with some noteworthy medicines, law and policy developments

Climate Change, Conflict and Disease Outbreaks All Loom as Global Health Threats at Close of 2023

2023: The Year of Missed Opportunities

WHO officially recognizes noma as a neglected tropical disease

Going Public: The Unmaking and Remaking of Universal Healthcare By Ramya Kumar and Anne-Emanuelle Birn  Online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2023. Free online from 13th December 2023 – 27th December 2023

Where the Low Countries spend their development aid

DNDi 2023 Year in Review

Artificial intelligence workplan to guide use of AI in medicines regulation

WHO prequalifies a second malaria vaccine, a significant milestone in prevention of the disease

COVID-19 vaccinations shift to regular immunization as COVAX draws to a close

Tuberculosis and Inequality: How Race, Caste, and Class Impact Access to Medicines

Joint statement by the European Commission and the High Representative on International Migrants Day

EU reaches a major breakthrough towards a common system for managing migration

People’s Health Dispatch Bulletin #65 The siege on health in Palestine continues

Rethinking the role of humanitarian principles in armed conflict

Bridging the Gap between the Dual Burden of Homelessness and Cancer across Europe

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Millions in Opioid Settlement Funds Sit Untouched as Overdose Deaths Rise

Uganda activists, lecturers and others fight harsh anti-LGBT law in court

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World Bank warns record debt levels could put developing countries in crisis

New South-South health cooperation initiative launched linking Africa and the Caribbean

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1 in 3 children in Afghanistan face crisis-level hunger after UK slashes aid

Vogliamo gabbie vuote: difendiamo gli animali e la democrazia

COP 28 adaptation accord blasted as ‘devoid of actionable commitments’

Africa: Historic Win or Climate Injustice? Experts Divided On What COP28 Means for Africa

COP28: The Beginning of the End on Fossil Fuels, and the End of the Beginning on Climate Finance

Watching the Arctic Melt, Meteorologist’s Experience on Icebreaker Oden

COP28 puts climate AI on global agenda

EU significantly off-track from 2030 climate goal, Commission warns

The intersections between climate change and noise pollution

Millets: The crop that could solve hunger and climate change

Peru’s Andean Peoples ‘Revive’ Water that the Climate Crisis Is Taking From Them

 

 

 

 

 

 

News Flash 552: Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

News Flash Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

Mauve stinger (Pelagia noctiluca)

News Flash 552

Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

 

Towards a WISE – Wellbeing in Sustainable Equity – New Paradigm for Humanity  by Juan Garay

Plant Based Treaty’s Safe and Just report

Scared New World  by Brian Johnston 

Commission welcomes political agreement on Artificial Intelligence Act

COP28: Landmark Fossil Fuel Deal Falls Short of Phase-Out

COP28: Deal to ‘Transition Away’ From Fossil Fuels Agreed

Midnight Marathon at COP28 as Island Nations Confront a ‘Death Sentence’

COP 28 special edition: The summit crawls its way toward a hotly contested finish line

Scientific Perspectives on Climate Change and its Influence on the Spread of Infectious Diseases  by Nicolas Castillo

Deadly Super-Pollutant Black Carbon Has Evaded Global Attention So Far

Finance at COP28: After the Euphoria, Come Questions Galore

It’s Time To Align Climate Finance and Social Justice, Says Youth Climate Activist

Human trafficking, sexual abuse and exploitation: the ‘loss and damage’ from climate change a fund will not compensate

Good COP/Bad COP: It’s Not Easy Being Green

Restore Our Planet Podcast #37 Fighting Climate Change, fighting poverty. The Margaret Pyke Trust

Snapshots: How the climate crisis is hurting people in Central America

WHO calls for protection of humanitarian space in Gaza following serious incidents in high-risk mission to transfer patients, deliver health supplies

Censorship of grassroots voices at global health conference raises concerns

A new beginning: escaping the chains of domestic violence

Discovering Life Without Violence

How an Indian farmer uses sports to save girls from early marriage

Health effects associated with exposure to intimate partner violence against women and childhood sexual abuse: a burden of proof study

UN says Africa faces unprecedented food crisis, with 3 in 4 people unable to afford a healthy diet

The biggest philanthropy pledges at COP 28

HRR 708: WHEN MISFORTUNE BECOMES INJUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL EQUALITY STRUGGLES CANNOT BUT BE THE COROLLARY

First version of the Union list of critical medicines agreed to help avoid potential shortages in the EU

WHO Statement on the antigen composition of COVID-19 vaccines

Gavi pledges US$1bn for African vaccine manufacturing

Verification of the active pharmaceutical ingredient in tablets using a low-cost near-infrared spectrometer

Anthrax is Spreading in Zambia and Neighbouring Countries

 

 

Towards a WISE – Wellbeing in Sustainable Equity – New Paradigm for Humanity

What is the alternative to current world disarray? The ethics, concept, and metrics of the new world order economy based on Wellbeing in Sustainable Equity -WiSE- prove that a new political and socio-economic order is urgently needed and is feasible, which can preserve and advance human knowledge, avert the tragic constant death toll of global health inequity, and avert the climate disaster and ecological destruction threatening the very future of coming generations

By Juan Garay

 Professor of ethics and metrics of health equity in Spain (ENS), Mexico (UNAChiapas), and Cuba (ELAM, UCLV, and UNAH)

Co-founder of the Sustainable Health Equity movement

Towards a WISE – Wellbeing in Sustainable Equity 

New Paradigm for Humanity

 

"As the present now will later be past, the order is rapidly fadin'"

 

The post-World Wars era, referred to as the European wars by the Chinese, is drawing to a close. It commenced with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the establishment of the United Nations (biased by the war-winning side) 75 years ago. It is slowly concluding with a major ideological confrontation between the global north (with the “western” epicentre between the USA and Western Europe) and the global south (with its “eastern” epicentre between Russia, China, and India). These groups are neither geographically clear (the West is linked to Japan and Korea, while the East includes Brazil, for instance) nor ideologically compact (the West champions “free-market economies,” but there is a wide scope in market regulation within, while the East has a stricter centrally planned economy yet communist systems are gradually embracing free markets – notably and most efficiently, China). What may differentiate the two epicentres most is the focus on the main value of anthropocentric and individual life and freedom in the West (linked to capitalism), probably rooted in hierarchical monotheisms, versus the principle of human-nature interconnectedness and collective good in the East (linked to communism).

The first half of the post-war era polarized the world between the USA and the USSR’s extreme economic systems, defended with massive military and nuclear power during the Cold War, with each counting on historical allies (USA with Western Europe and related countries while USSR with China). They reached out to other regions (USA to Latin America, the USSR to South Asia) and competed for influence and links to natural resources in Africa and the Middle East, where such tension led to greater instability and conflict.

The second half of this era, fading as argued below, was preceded by the Washington consensus, and triggered by the fall of the Berlin Wall. This gradually shifted, at least for three decades, the bipolar dynamics to a multipolar system with still one centre around Washington and the G7, and the other with Moscow and Beijing, with a growing role of other economies of large countries clustered around BRICS and later the G20. The USA and Russia kept their military power and tension between them, mainly around the shifting eastern border of Europe. Both, while endowed with oil reserves, focused on influencing the main oil sources in the Middle East, with the USA influencing Saudi Arabia and neighbouring emirates while Russia got closer to Iran. Meanwhile, China gradually dominated the rare earth metals, critical to renewable energy sources and storage. The European Union gradually became dependent on USA security through NATO, on Russian oil and gas energy, and on the trade dynamics with and versus China.

Just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the equator of this post-war era, the AIDS pandemic ravaged the world, mainly Africa, and exposed the deep gap in the basic right to life between high-income countries, clustered around the Western axis, and low-income countries, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS shamefully revealed, by the turn of the century, how the massive profits of wealthy economies overruled the life of some 30 million people[1], mostly in Africa, who died lacking access to high-priced lifesaving drugs. In parallel, the collapse of the Soviet Union meant some 7 million excess deaths[2], mostly young men, while the economic rise of China reduced a similar figure from the mortality trend well before its economic growth in the 90s[3].

During this second half of the post-world-war era, Humanity saw the rise of the internet, boosting the speed of human communication, enabling exponential growth and the power of financial operations and speculation deeply linked to media influence and global production, trade, and consumption. In parallel, combining the Washington consensus blessing (or state-hands-off) of the speculative economy and the link to the progressive concentration of financial-media powers, economic and health/wellbeing equity stalled, and the burden of global health inequity remained since then at a level of 16-18 million deaths-by-global-injustice mainly in low-income countries, one third of all deaths, every year (when disaggregated by subnational analysis, the figure may double). Meanwhile, the growing evidence of man-made climate impending disaster which, at present trend, would mean over 200 million excess deaths in non-polluting countries[4], called for global collaboration to roll back global warming, yet with commitments lagged in time and far below the necessary speed of the transition to the post-oil era.

In the last five years, the world saw the impact of the Covid pandemic, where still the rich countries hoarded vaccines[5], and the blast of wars in the cold war battlefields of Eastern Europe (Ukraine) and the Middle East (Gaza). While in the former, the world’s majority did not side with Russia, in the latter the USA and its European allies were the minority in being complacent with Israel genocide and voting or even vetoing against a ceasefire.

In the midst of the growing political and economic gap between rich and poor, west and east, north and south, three vital decisions for the future of humanity corner the wealthy north, questioning its real commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 75 years ago: the negotiations of the pandemic Treaty to better respond globally to likely future pandemics, where the rich north restricts the use of knowledge and patents to save life above profits, again, the discussions at the Dubai COP 28 where emissions will remain in rich countries far above the ethical threshold bounding Humanity to the 1.5 degrees increase of no return, and the recent vote to start negotiations towards a UN tax treaty aimed at preventing financial flows to tax havens benefiting the very rich. Such is today the “world disorder” of growing economic injustice translated into excess mortality in low-income countries and communities, fake global democracy hijacked still by security council veto powers, and ecological impending disaster given the complacent low and lagged commitments in reducing carbon emissions.

What are the root causes of this world disarray? Individual and collective greed seem to have taken grip of humanity, north and south, east, and west. The expansion of capitalism and the alliance of virtual realities and communication means dominated by financial powers have swamped human consciences globally with biased data and competitive dynamics, paradoxically championed as freedom beacons. With biased information and knowledge and shrinking empathy, the human inner nature of making free and conscious choices towards common good seems, though difficult to measure, to be in rapid decline in favour of individual (competition and consumption) and collective (nationalism and corporate interests) selfishness.

What is the alternative? The ethics, concept, and metrics of the new world order economy based on Wellbeing in Sustainable Equity -WiSE- prove that a new political and socio-economic order is urgently needed and is feasible, which can preserve and advance human knowledge, avert the tragic constant death toll of global health inequity, and avert the climate disaster and ecological destruction threatening the very future of coming generations. The following ten steps of analysis and action are proposed towards that urgent and ethical change:

  1. The most cherished human aspiration across cultures and times is to have, and so their descendants, long and healthy lives.
  2. Such aspiration is captured in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a standard of living adequate for health and well-being – and further defined in the constitutional objective of the World Health Organization: the best feasible level of health for all people, the only common global health objective shared by all UN member states[6].
  3. The best feasible (also for coming generations: sustainable) level of health-wellbeing has not been defined. Such a level can be defined as the best levels of wellbeing – measured by life expectancy at birth – which are feasible according to the two main limited resources – interrelated: economic (lower than the world average GDP pc) and ecological (below planetary boundaries)[7].
  4. The identification of human group references of wellbeing in sustainable equity (WiSE) enables the identification of social, economic, and cultural-philosophic dynamics that may orient global collaboration towards a fair and sustainable order.
  5. The comparison of mortality rates by country, age group, sex, and time period[8] of the WiSE models with the rest of the world allows the estimation of the gap from the common global health objective, through the burden of health inequity, now standing at some 16 million excess deaths per year, some 30% of all[9].
  6. Such models can also identify the income level (correlated with wealth and assets) below which no country has, in the last 60 years of comparable records, been able to enjoy those best feasible levels of health. We name such an income minimum level as the dignity threshold enabling the universal right to health, that is, to the best feasible level of health for all, and which stands today at some $10 per person and day (constant value, variable in purchasing power parity), which should be considered in the discussions around the universal basic income[10].
  7. The present dignity gap to enable countries with GDP pc below the dignity threshold (deficit countries) to have sufficient economic resources to aim at the best feasible level of health is of some $7 trillion, calling for fair redistribution of some 7% of the world´s GDP, similar to the level of annual oil subsidies[11].
  8. The above figure is 4 times less than the average internal GDP redistribution in high-income countries[12] through fiscal and public financing policies yet 20 times lower than the very low levels of development cooperation, which is progressively linked to northern private sector investments often disconnected to country needs[13].
  9. There is an excess threshold income-GDP pc above which there is no country that has ever respected planetary boundaries (including the CO2 emissions ethical threshold of annual 1.6mTn pc), and wellbeing measured by life expectancy at birth does not increase any further. The excess threshold stands today at some $50 per person and day. The GDP above such a level, called in other comparative analysis “waste GDP”[14], is in the region of 60% of the total world GDP, which is also responsible for the 90% of carbon emissions. Even after fair redistribution potentially preventing 16 million annual deaths, simpler lives in terms of production, trade, and consumption could reduce carbon emissions below the ethical threshold and free resources for collaborative research into global public goods.
  10. The negative effects of excess income-wealth accumulation (preventing fair redistribution and much of the burden of health inequity) and excess carbon emissions (leading to the above-mentioned levels of excess mortality due to global warming) can be estimated and deducted from the levels of wellbeing-birth expectancy at birth, hence combining the individual wellbeing with the negative collective effects in the wellbeing in sustainable equity index which challenges the UN human development index (where none of the top 10 ranked countries in the last 20 years has been economically replicable nor ecologically sustainable[15].

Towards that necessary transformation, the following actions are proposed at global, national, and community level governance and dynamics:

 

Endnotes

[1] Fact sheet – Latest global and regional statistics on the status of the AIDS epidemic. (unaids.org)

[2] Mortality in Russia Since the Fall of the Soviet Union (researchgate.net)

[3] An exploration of China’s mortality decline under Mao: A provincial analysis, 1950–80 – PMC (nih.gov)

[4] Health and Climate Change: a Third World War with No Guns – PEAH – Policies for Equitable Access to Health

[5] The Lancet, 30 May 2020, Volume 395, Issue 10238, Pages 1669-1738, e98-e100

[6] Global health: evolution of the definition, use and misuse of the term (openedition.org)

[7] Health Equity Metrics | Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Global Public Health

[8] The Global Health Equity Atlas unveiled (interacademies.org)

[9] Global Health Inequity 1960-2020 – PEAH – Policies for Equitable Access to Health

[10] IMF Fossil Fuel Subsidies Data: 2023 Update

[11] IMF Fossil Fuel Subsidies Data: 2023 Update

[12] Fiscal redistribution in the European union (worldbank.org)

[13] A Renewed International Cooperation/Partnership Framework in the XXIst Century – PEAH – Policies for Equitable Access to Health

[14] Wasted GDP in the USA | Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (nature.com)

[15] Global Health Inequity 1960-2020 – PEAH – Policies for Equitable Access to Health

 

—-

By the same Author on PEAH

A Renewed International Cooperation/Partnership Framework in the XXIst Century

COVID-19 IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL HEALTH EQUITY

Global Health Inequity 1960-2020

Health and Climate Change: a Third World War with No Guns

Understanding, Measuring and Acting on Health Equity

Scared New World

Insightful reflections here on how the emergence of artificial intelligence and related technologies could impact the already serious problem of digital poverty and in turn negatively affect the health and wellbeing of millions of people

By Dr. Brian Johnston

Senior Public Health Intelligence Manager

London, United Kingdom

Scared New World

 

Despite what people say about death and taxes, the only truly inevitable part of life is change.  Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and cloud computing  are all important drivers for change in our modern world and seem destined to radically transform our existence for years to come.

Increasingly, data and how it is processed and analysed, shapes our lives in ways that we could not have predicted even a few years ago. Our world is in a constant state of flux and shows a rate of change that would have been labelled as ”science fiction” even a decade ago.

Like most engines of change, AI and its associated technological advances have received a mixed reception and this state of affairs is likely to persist for the foreseeable future. Tangible benefits from AI within the health sector are emerging, from enhanced logistics, improved digital patient record handling and image scanning for cancers, to name but a few. However, these benefits must be judged against a complex constellation of challenges within data governance, privacy and the potential threats posed by systems which automate and improve processes previously controlled by human beings alone.

Against this background, digital poverty, where people lack digital skills, access to suitable devices, connection to the internet, or the ability to get online regularly, remains a major barrier to personal and economic growth, both at an individual and societal level.

A recent report on Digital Poverty in the UK  described it as a “pervasive issue,” and estimated that between 13 and 19 million people in the United Kingdom aged 16+ are in digital poverty.

Digital poverty exerts its greatest impact on the most deprived people in society, who struggle to feed their families and heat their homes in the current worldwide economic downturn. Where digital poverty exists, it permeates most aspects of a person’s existence, in this world so heavily dependent on technology. Communication, education, health, entertainment, work, and many other facets of modern life, are often navigated on-line through devices which require access to data collected, processed, and distributed via digital media.

Even in affluent countries, with well-developed digital infrastructures, digital poverty remains an important, persistent, and ongoing problem, blighting the lives and aspirations of millions of people.

Limiting or reducing access to computing and its associated benefits, can impact a person’s ability to fully realise their life potential in a variety of ways –  by influencing the type and quality of work that they do, their lifestyle choices, how and where they live, the decisions they make in life, the quality of their relationships and ultimately their physical and mental health and wellbeing. So digital poverty can be regarded as a cancer eating away at the fabric of society;  largely unseen and seldom discussed, but nonetheless causing serious damage under the surface.

In developing countries, where access to computing and its benefits is denied to large portions of the population, the negative impacts of digital poverty are keenly felt. Similarly, in a competitive world, where data and computing skills are becoming increasing prized, digital poverty seems set to create and perpetuate existing inequalities, at both an individual and national level. Older adults, women and poor people are already more likely to experience the negative impacts of digital poverty and these inequalities are highly likely to worsen in the years to come.

The digital revolution currently blossoming as a result of AI and related technologies, whilst it will create wealth, opportunities, and advances in various fields of human endeavour, will also exact heavy costs. The pace of change catalysed by AI, will create an environment where access to digital devices and skilled knowledge in their use, may become a prerequisite to achieving a decent standard of living in many sectors of employment. Those experiencing digital poverty will find it difficult to ride the waves of change created by AI – to use a surfing analogy; they lack the surf board as well as the skills and experience to use it, so will be condemned to stand on the side lines, watching others joyfully riding the waves of success. From this perspective, AI can be seen as a catalyst for change, which exacerbates the already serious problem of digital poverty and deepens the divide between the digital “haves” and “have-nots.”

Like the first industrial revolution of the 18th century, this digital revolution energised by AI, may also encourage people to migrate from the countryside into cities. Especially in developing countries, where Wi-fi connectivity in remote rural areas can be lacking and the digital infrastructure required to effectively use AI is patchy or unavailable, there may be a greater impetus to travel and settle in cities.

The perception that access to job opportunities linked to AI related industries, may lift people out of poverty in rural areas, may act as a strong magnet drawing them away from agricultural production towards urban environments. In countries, where climate change is already making the land more difficult to cultivate, through droughts, erosion of top soil and encroaching desertification, the exodus of people from the land for economic reasons, may worsen an already dire situation and place intolerable pressures on local food production and distribution.

Furthermore, the migration of people from rural to urban environments is likely to negatively impact the resources and infrastructure of many cities and place increasing stress on their health and social care systems. The creation of economically excluded populations, forced to live in poor quality, overcrowded housing, could overwhelm the existing services provided by many cities, through the spread of infectious diseases. This scenario would have serious implications for the health and wellbeing of millions of people across the globe.

However, targeted investment in programmes to increase digital access and literacy, could promote a culture of levelling up, where the effects of digital poverty are reduced and the negative changes created by the AI digital revolution mitigated. The changes brought about by AI are likely to be many and far reaching, so if we are to lessen the impact on our physical and mental health and wellbeing, we should be prepared to act swiftly and decisively, in ways that yield tangible benefits for everyone, including the digitally dispossessed.

 

By the same Author on PEAH

Shifting Sands – Health in a Changing World

How to Combat Future Pandemics
 
The New Abnormal
 
Living with COVID in a Transformed World

  Death in the Time of COVID

  Unleashing the True Potential of Data – COVID-19 and Beyond