UN Report Warns of ‘Inequality–Pandemic Cycle’

Rising inequality is making the world more vulnerable to pandemics and trapping countries in a cycle that endangers both public health and economic stability, leading economists, health experts and the United Nations warned on Monday.

The findings come from a two-year study by the UNAIDS-convened Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Pandemics, released ahead of this month’s G20 leaders’ meeting in South Africa.

“High levels of inequality — within and between countries — make pandemics more deadly, longer-lasting and economically devastating,” the report said. In turn, pandemics “fuel inequality,” creating a self-reinforcing loop.

The council is chaired by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, former Namibian First Lady Monica Geingos and epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot. They noted that the same pattern was visible in crises from COVID-19 and AIDS to Ebola, influenza and mpox.

“Failure to address deep social and economic divides since COVID-19 has left the world dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic,” the report warned.

During COVID-19 alone, 165 million people were pushed into poverty while the wealth of the richest individuals grew by more than 25 percent. Inequality, said Geingos, “is a political choice — and a dangerous one.”

The report urges world leaders to:

• Invest in social protection systems and pandemic preparedness

• Restructure debt so developing countries can fund health and welfare services

• Ensure equal access to medical tools and technology, including IP waivers during pandemics

• Support local and regional production of vaccines and treatments

“Pandemics are not just health shocks — they are economic shocks,” Stiglitz said, warning that austerity and high-interest debt “starve health, education and social protection systems,” leaving societies weaker and more exposed to future outbreaks.

Stiglitz will also deliver a separate report on global inequality and poverty to G20 leaders, who meet on November 22–23. The G20 includes 19 major economies, the European Union and the African Union.