Making determined, systematic efforts to tackle inequality will help address many of the world’s health, environmental and social crises, according to leading researchers who feature prominently in the column this week.
ICYMI also brings the latest news from #AusPol and on public health and global health, as well as profiling some new books, and previewing a stack of upcoming events.
This week there are a few quotables because we were spoilt for choice:
There were more than twice as many stories about how the heat could affect the result of a cricket match in Perth in mid-February than about how climate change was driving the heatwaves.”
AND
Big Tobacco is back, aided and abetted by the Nationals.”
Why the world cannot afford the rich
The scientific evidence is stark that reducing inequality is a fundamental precondition for addressing the environmental, health and social crises the world is facing, and policymakers must act quickly to reverse decades of rising inequality and curb the highest incomes.
That is the punchline in an article in Nature earlier this month by Emeritus Professor Richard Wilkinson and Professor Kate Pickett, who will be known to many Croakey readers as the authors of ‘The Spirit Level’, and many other books and publications.
“As environmental, social and humanitarian crises escalate, the world can no longer afford two things: first, the costs of economic inequality; and second, the rich,” they write.
“Between 2020 and 2022, the world’s most affluent one percent of people captured nearly twice as much of the new global wealth created as did the other 99 percent of individuals put together, and in 2019 they emitted as much carbon dioxide as the poorest two-thirds of humanity. In the decade to 2022, the world’s billionaires more than doubled their wealth, to almost US$12 trillion.”
The authors review the wide-ranging harmful impacts of inequality, for individuals, societies, and governments.
“Many commentators have drawn attention to the environmental need to limit economic growth and instead prioritize sustainability and well-being,” they say. “Here we argue that tackling inequality is the foremost task of that transformation. Greater equality will reduce unhealthy and excess consumption, and will increase the solidarity and cohesion that are needed to make societies more adaptable in the face of climate and other emergencies.”
Heating up
Below are reports on heating’s harms, from the United States-Mexico border to Sudan and Australian renters.
But let’s not mention why these events are becoming more frequent and severe: a detailed analysis of media coverage conducted exclusively for the ABC by Monash University researchers, showed fewer than one-in-20 stories about the WA heatwaves mentioned climate change. About one in five referred to the health impacts of extreme heat.
The vast majority of the 172 stories about the WA heatwaves mentioned neither climate change nor heat-related health problems. There were more than twice as many stories about how the heat could affect the result of a cricket match in Perth in mid-February than about how climate change was driving the heatwaves, the ABC reported.
#AusPol
Independent MP Dr Monique Ryan concludes her article in The Guardian: “The Government’s vaping legislation is important. It’s possibly too late – and it’s going to be tough to enforce – but I congratulate Mark Butler for having the courage to take on this scourge of an industry. The Government must now put limits on lobbyists’ relationships with politicians, close the revolving door between ministerial and senior public service jobs in the tobacco industry, and ban political donations from harmful industries. All these measures would be enacted if the government adopted the crossbench’s integrity agenda. The bills are already tabled.”
“Big Tobacco is back, aided and abetted by the Nationals. This vaping legislation is a courageous start but it leaves gaping integrity issues unresolved. Big tobacco will keep returning while Australia remains weak on integrity.”
Public health
Read the statement: “Clean indoor air is a human right, just like clean water and clean outdoor air. It is a societal and occupational health and safety issue that is fundamental to our health and wellbeing, with major economic implications due to lost productivity and absenteeism,” said Burnet Director and CEO Professor Brendan Crabb AC.
Health and aged care reform
Read: Let’s get real about what’s ailing private hospitals, by Dr Rachel David
Global health
Egypt’s hepatitis success story 
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/indian-pharma-companies-under-investigation-for-poor-drug-quality-donate-millions-to-political-parties/ 
#CroakeyREAD
Events
