UNAIDS‑backed Report: Inequality Fuels Deadlier Pandemics

A major report published on 3 November 2025 by the Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Pandemics — convened by UNAIDS and co‑chaired by Joseph Stiglitz, Monica Geingos and Sir Michael Marmot — finds that high levels of inequality both fuel pandemics and are worsened by them, creating a self‑reinforcing "inequality‑pandemic cycle." Based on two years of research and released ahead of G20 health meetings, the report shows within‑ and between‑country inequalities make outbreaks more likely to escalate and become more disruptive, deadlier and longer, a pattern seen in COVID‑19, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, influenza, mpox and tuberculosis. The authors document stark disparities, noting the richest 1% captured a disproportionate share of new wealth and that 3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt repayment than on health care. The report blames features of the global financial architecture — including cuts to development assistance, high debt burdens and austerity — for shrinking fiscal space for social programmes that prevent and mitigate pandemics. It calls for an "inequality‑informed" approach to health security: tackling social determinants of health, removing financial barriers, expanding access to affordable medicines, strengthening local capacity and reforming global finance to protect health spending. The authors and UN leaders urge immediate policy changes to break the cycle, arguing that addressing inequality before crises hit is more effective than focusing solely on labs and faster vaccines.