World Health Disparities and Inequalities under the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Health disparities exist within and across countries. Medical facilities, in numbers and capabilities, vary greatly between countries. In March 2020, the United Nations launched the Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19, in which the most vulnerable countries were identified. National governments are generally held accountable to bridge gaps in internal health disparities. However, a lack of interest in cross-country health equity is evident. The distribution of masks and vaccines, for example, was left to market forces. Health gaps widened and did not bridge when global supply chains broke down. Vaccines were regarded as a profitable product instead of a necessity. This paper studied and compared health disparities between the top 20% of the “best prepared countries” and the lowest 20% of the “least prepared countries,” according to the Global Health Security Index (GHSI). Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed to illustrate global health gaps during COVID-19 and beyond. These data demonstrated that health disparities have widened in the last two years.