Disease outbreaks and poverty are a vicious cycle — widespread declining economic status leads to more disease, which leads to more poverty. Epidemics worsen inequality and raise the cost of living, making it more difficult to get by.

The extent and severity to which the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic will impact the fight to end extreme poverty is still unknown, but it is expected that the crisis will devastate the world’s most vulnerable people.

Preventative care and health education are less accessible to low-income people who are more likely to have pre-existing conditions, catch COVID-19, and die from it. People living in poverty are also more likely to hold insecure jobs and cannot afford to stay home sick from work.

Countries are enforcing lockdowns to promote social distancing and contain the virus, but such precautions are more challenging especially for people living in small, confined spaces with multiple people are not able to isolate themselves as easily to help contain the virus.

Groups that are possibly at the risk of being sort of left behind in the response are homeless, refugees, or immigrants who are undocumented or feel that they have fear to be part of the system.

We will be meeting Dr Hartini Zainudin of Yayasan Chow Kit to discuss the impacts Covid19 has had on the underprivileged community. Do check out the live streaming session at MMI Doctors page on 13th April 2020 8pm.