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Poverty

The link between poverty and premature death and disability has been long evident, but the definition of who is poor and the global distribution of the extremely poor are changing. Today there are fewer poor and fragile states and most of poor people live in stable, middle-income nations. This section examines the ways in which ill-health and poverty are now interacting and reinforcing each other.

Poverty

$1.90

World Bank threshold per diem for extreme poverty

World Bank threshold per diem for extreme poverty World Bank threshold per diem for extreme poverty

6 of 10

Extremely poor people are in middle-income nations

Extremely poor people are in middle-income nations Extremely poor people are in middle-income nations

1.9 B

Billion people living in extreme poverty, 1990

Billion people living in extreme poverty, 1990 Billion people living in extreme poverty, 1990

589 M

Number of people living in extreme poverty, 2019

Number of people living in extreme poverty, 2019 Number of people living in extreme poverty, 2019

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Poverty
Education in Africa is being disrupted along with everything else—chickens here in a classroom converted into a poultry house because of COVID-19 in the town of Wang'uru, Kenya, on August 28, 2020. Picture shows a large gaggle of chickens inside a classroom, clucking around. One stands atop an overturned bucket. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

The Double Threat of COVID-19 in Africa
by Tom Frieden, John Nkengasong - October 30, 2020

Deaths from health-care disruptions due to COVID-19 are almost certain to outnumber deaths from the coronavirus itself

Poverty
Beds at a temporary field hospital set up in a sports complex by Medicines Sans Frontieres during the coronavirus outbreak in Khayelitsha township near Cape Town, South Africa, on July 21, 2020. The photo shows a large gymnasium with lots of beds in rows. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

Health-Systems Strengthening in the Age of COVID-19

by Angela E. Micah, Katherine Leach-Kemon, Joseph L. Dieleman

As the pandemic stresses many health-systems to their breaking point, it’s more important than ever to bolster them now

Poverty
Demonstrators from the Black Lives Matter movement march through central London on July 10, 2016, during a demonstration against the killing of black men by police in the United States. The photo shows a huge crowd with people facing the camera with homemade signs, fists raised, and shouting slogans. AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas via Getty Images

What Global Health Can Learn From Black Lives Matter

by Sylvia Sax

Shifting power from distant, donor-country elites to local aid recipients will lead to stronger global health systems

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Education in Africa is being disrupted along with everything else—chickens here in a classroom converted into a poultry house because of COVID-19 in the town of Wang'uru, Kenya, on August 28, 2020. Picture shows a large gaggle of chickens inside a classroom, clucking around. One stands atop an overturned bucket. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
Poverty

The Double Threat of COVID-19 in Africa

by Tom Frieden, John Nkengasong

Deaths from health-care disruptions due to COVID-19 are almost certain to outnumber deaths from the coronavirus itself

An intubated patient tries to gesture at a medical worker holding his hand at the Sotiria hospital ICU during the coronavirus outbreak, in Athens, Greece, on April 25, 2020. Picture shows the hand of a patient in a hospital bed being held by the blue-gloved hand of a medical worker. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis
Poverty

Scaling up Surgery and Anesthesia, Post-Coronavirus

by Craig McClain, Laura Hoemeke, Natalie Sheneman

Expanding access to surgery and anesthesia globally would be a win–win for health security and universal health coverage

People at a coronavirus testing center on July 2, 2020 in Mugda Medical College in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where half of the medical equipment in public health facilities goes unused according to the authors. The photo shows a crowd of people wearing masks waiting on line in chairs while a health worker in full protective gear walks beside them. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
Poverty

Who Gets What and Why?

by Héctor Castro

Countries need informed decision-making through health technology assessment to allocate resources during the pandemic