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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

Featured

Poverty
A 3-year-old boy named Eduardo holding father Luis’s hand on Nov. 7, 2018. Both are from Central America, where progress toward reducing stunting in children under 5 has been particularly noticeable. Picture shows Eduardo looking up pensively at his father at they walk along a road in what appears to be dusk or pre-dawn dim light. Luis is off-camera and only his arm visible. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Rethinking Ways to Address Child Growth Failure
by Simon I. Hay, Tim Exton - February 22, 2020

Precision health mapping of regional and local targets would help steer limited resources to the places of greatest need

Poverty
Peter Salama visits a makeshift school at Kule Camp in the Gambella region of Ethiopia on August 12, 2014, when he was the Country Representative of UNICEF Ethiopia. Picture shows Dr. Salama wearing a blue hat talking to several boys in a classroom. They are all smiling. UNICEF/Jiro Ose/UNI170605

A Tribute to Peter Salama, a Champion of People in Fragile States and War-Torn Places

by Richard Brennan, David Nabarro

Original director of WHO Health Emergencies Program, he fought against Ebola and for Universal Health Coverage worldwide

Poverty
Two ends of the age spectrum: Thenjiwe Madzinga, 66, and grandson Thina Gxotelwa in a small room they share in Cape Town's Khayelitsha township on Feb. 23, 2010. Madzinga cares for five grandchildren. Picture shows the pair sitting on a bed in a small room with bright green walls. She is looking lovingly at him, and he is looking at her and smiling, perhaps embarrassed at the camera. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly

Universal Health Coverage—A Citizens’ Guide to Benefits

by Ruth E. Levine

Realizing this high-level UN priority in low-income settings will demand evidence-based decisions and grass-roots action

Latest

Migrant workers protect themselves from heat as they wait to board a train to their home state of eastern Bihar, at the end of the coronavirus lockdown in New Delhi, India, on May 21, 2020. The image shows two men sharing a yellow scarf. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
Poverty

Bridging the Data Divide in COVID-19

by Tom Achoki

Collaborative health data networks and open access would give boundless opportunities to advance disease surveillance

Cooking jackets are laid down and displayed as part of a COVID-19 protest by workers of the cafe and restaurant business demanding more help from the government in Brussels, Belgium, on May 7, 2020. The photo shows an array of shirts, mostly white but a few black ones, laid out over thousands of square feet of a lawn. It's a striking photo. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Poverty

A Call for Global Solidarity

by Amanda McClelland

If COVID-19 has taught anything, it's that we are one world—and a world where many places need money and technical help

Proportion of population with no access to hand-washing in 2019. The map shows that hand-washing access is lowest in low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Caribbean.
Poverty

Handwashing Is Crucial for Combating Coronavirus

by Alemnesh H. Mirkuzie, Awoke Misganaw Temesgen, Michael Brauer

Expanded hand-washing access could save thousands of lives from diseases like COVID-19—especially in low-income settings