The pandemic may be behind us, but the world still has the jitters about infectious diseases. Covid has left its mark; flu is identified as the next looming terror. Yet when the World Health Organization declared a public-health emergency over mpox last month, the response has been depressingly unjust. None of the African countries affected by the outbreak of a new variant of mpox have received any of the promised vaccines.
Unfortunately, it seems too much of the world considers that if the poor are out of sight, they are largely out of mind. Yet it is the west that is shaping the poor world’s health crises. Its companies push calorie-heavy processed foods and its governments insist on fiscal austerity. The biggest cause of premature death around the world is not infectious diseases, but chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. So-called non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for three-quarters of all deaths in the world. Of the 41 million total, 17 million are premature – before the age of 70. The heaviest toll is exacted in low- and middle-income countries, where 86% of all the premature deaths from chronic diseases occur.
