Inequality best predicts how nations handle pandemics, study finds

Paris - Economic inequality is the clearest way to predict how countries will fare during a pandemic, a high-profile panel said Wednesday, calling for a rethink in how governments prepare for the next global health crisis.The research, which was published in a prestigious journal and will be presented at a major AIDS conference in Brazil, pushed back against traditional measures of pandemic preparedness.“For decades, the world judged how ready a country is for a pandemic by counting its laboratories, stockpiles and response plans,” study co-author and economics Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz said.