Indigenous peoples and pandemics
In addition to posing a major threat to global health, pandemics impact economic activity, as witnessed during the spread of COVID-19 around the globe. The disease risks, however, are not uniform for major pandemic threats. A new article co-authored by PandemiX scientists test the hypothesis that Indigenous populations, globally, are more likely to experience mortality from COVID-19 than non-Indigenous populations.
Indeed, age is the strongest risk factor for severe outcomes of COVID-19. Within age groups, however, persons with underlying medical risk factors, people of lower socioeconomic status, immigrants, ethnic minorities, and Indigenous peoples are at higher risk of infection, hospitalization, and death across these pandemics and epidemics, demonstrating a need for intersectional analyses and preparedness responses.