The Lancet: Offline: Global health’s indifference to poverty must end
Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet

“…[B]eating poverty remains a prerequisite for flourishing and sustainable lives. Disappointingly, global health and its leaders have judged poverty to be yesterday’s idea. … Poverty is not only a curse for the poorest nations in the world. There is endemic poverty in supposedly rich countries too. … And one must not forget that poverty in rich and poor nations alike is gendered. Women lose more life-years to poverty than men. Ending poverty must return as a political objective for global health. Health professionals are uniquely placed to draw attention to the acute personal consequences of poverty. We can be powerful advocates for action. … Poverty consumes lives, eroding mental resources, diminishing cognitive capacities, and destroying life possibilities. Universal health will never be achieved unless and until poverty is eradicated. How tragic that our global health leaders have forgotten this lesson” (7/27).