Coronavirus and what needs to be done to get in front of global pandemics
Dr. Fielding addresses the need for increased investment in our nation’s infectious disease safety net and for global stakeholders to collaborate.
We have been focused on fighting COVID-19 as it impacts the U.S. and the industrialized world, but what will happen when the pandemic continues its spread into developing nations? The recent news that poorer countries weigh reopening despite rising numbers of cases makes this an even more urgent question.
Poor countries, with their lack of resources, poor medical coverage, and densely populated towns and cities, maybe facing an unprecedented disaster as the pandemic strikes them. And because the world has shrunk, spread to low-income countries will also impact the U.S.
In late March, modelers at the Imperial College, London estimated that without intervention, seven-billion people could be infected with COVID, with 40 million deaths this year, the largest burden falling on low-income countries (average annual per-capita income of <996 USD).
Faculty Referenced by this Article
Nationally recognized health services researcher and sociomedical scientist with 25+ years' experience in effectiveness and implementation research.
EMPH Academic Program Director with expertise in healthcare marketing, finance, and reproductive health policy, teaching in the EMPH, MPH, MHA program
Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research
Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.
Dr. Michelle S. Keller is a health services researcher whose research focuses on the use and prescribing of high-risk medications.
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