Health inequity during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cry for ethical global leadership

Type Journal Article Author David Chiriboga Author Juan Garay Author Paulo Buss Author Rocío Sáenz Madrigal Author Laetitia Charmaine Rispel URL https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(20)31145-4.pdf Series The Lancet Correspondence Volume 395 Publication The Lancet Date 15/05/2020 Abstract Widespread reports of disproportion-ate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among already vulnerable communities worldwide, from New York City to New Orleans and Chicago, to the shocking pictures of bodies lying in the streets in Ecuador, represent a prelude of the impact in low-income and middle-income countries, home to more than 80% of the world’s population. Disadvantaged people are at higher risk of infection and death from COVID-19, and they have less access to care due to systems that treat health as a commodity and not a human right. Furthermore, most health-care systems are not prepared to handle a pandemic of this magnitude. Overwhelmed European and US systems are ominous reminders of the challenges faced in poor countries.