The Global Council on Inequality, AIDS, and Pandemics is a group of prominent experts convened by UNAIDS to address the intersection of global inequality and the increasing frequency and prolonged nature of pandemics. The Global Council is co-chaired by Nobel-Prize-winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz, entrepreneur and former First Lady of Namibia Monica Geingos, and renowned epidemiologist Professor Sir Michael Marmot who chaired the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. Members of the Council include a former head of state, current and former ministers of health, and prominent academics. The Global Council has engaged with G20 Health Ministers meetings in Brazil in 2024 and South Africa in 2025. Members of the Council published research on the effects of inequality on the AIDS pandemic globally and specifically in cities. They have also published op-eds and other pieces promoting an alternative to standard pandemic preparedness that takes inequality into account.
In 2025, the Global Council released a report documenting the "Inequality-Pandemic Cycle" that described the ways that inequality makes pandemics more likely, causes pandemics to last longer and have bigger impact, and how pandemics increase inequality, fueling a cycle. The report was delivered at the G20 Ministers of Health meeting in Polokwane, South Africa as well as an event chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa in Cape Town November 2025. The report warned that inequality is driving pandemics and called on governments to take action on financial space and debt, access to affordable vaccines and medicines, social determinants of pandemics, and community-led efforts as part of preparing for future pandemics.
Membership +Members of the Global CouncilWinnie ByanyimaExecutive Director of UNAIDSJoseph E. StiglitzNobel prize winning economist and professor at Columbia UniversityMonica GeingosFormer First Lady, NamibiaMichael G. MarmotProfessor of Epidemiology and Director of the Institute of Health Equity at University College LondonNísia TrindadeFormer Minister of Health, BrazilJohn AtagubaExecutive Director of the African Health Economics and Policy AssociationHelen ClarkFormer Prime Minister of New Zealand and former Administrator of UNDPMaría Fernanda Espinosa GarcésFormer President of the United Nations General AssemblyAdeeba KamarulzamanPro Vice Chancellor and President of Monash University MalaysiaMatthew M. KavanaghDirector & Associate Professor, Georgetown University Center for Global Health Policy & PoliticsIngrid T. KatzDirector of the Yale Institute for Global HealthRuth Laibon MashaCEO of the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council in KenyaRichard LusimboHuman rights activistJavier Padilla BernáldezSecretary of State for Health, SpainJoe PhaahlaFormer Minister of Health of South Africa, Current Deputy Minister of HealthErika PlacellaHead of Health, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Swiss Agency for Development and CooperationAchal PrabhalaDirector, AccessIBSA projectPeter SandsExecutive Director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and MalariaChadchart SittipuntGovernor of BangkokImraan ValodiaProfessor of Economics; Pro Vice-Chancellor: Climate, Sustainability and Inequality, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Reception and Reaction Minister of Health of South Africa welcomed the report and its findings, stating "When I saw the picture in front of the report, I saw South Africa. We are not necessarily the poorest country on this continent, but we are certainly the most unequal in the whole world." At the launch of the report Sir Michael Marmot stated "The rich had a very good pandemic" which generated headlines in global health publications.
However, some critics complained that worrying about inequality "takes focus away" from reforms and preparedness efforts needed for future pandemics and questioned the report's methodology.
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