Health Inequalities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Pandemics are associated with significant and destructive national and global impacts on health, economy, society, and security. COVID-19 pandemic has imposed adverse economic consequences on the whole population. This is while the elderly and those with comorbidities, the economically disadvantaged and ethnic minorities were at increased risk of viral infection. Moreover, the mortality rate and the disease burden have been higher in these three groups. Social determinants of health are conditions in which people are born, live, work, grow up, and age. They are among the potential factors affecting health equity in communities. Regarding illness and health, the lower the socioeconomic level, the worse the health condition and the prevalence of underlying chronic conditions would be. In this paper, some of the existing inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic were investigated. They include age; having comorbidities; and social determinants of health such as employment status, income, living and working conditions, housing, and ethnic minorities. Measures should be taken to eliminate factors that exacerbate existing health and economic inequalities.