Handling pandemic inequality: an investigation of the relationship between political responses to covid-19 and health equity

Countries’ political responses to covid-19 share an outspoken goal to protect public health, but are highly diverse in both design and outcome.

In a set of three integrated studies, the purpose of this project is to investigate the political determinants of health equity during the covid-19 pandemic.The project will use open data on political responses and burden of covid-19, written policy documents and aggregated Nordic register data.

The first study will combine the parametric g-formula with an empirical cluster analysis to analyse the relationships between political responses and burden of covid-19 on a global level. The second study will conduct a policy analysis with particular consideration of health equity a European context.

The third study will use a decomposition model and population registers to analyse health inequity trends in the Nordic countries during the pandemic. We follow an integrative approach with the results of the individual studies feeding in to each other.

The project group consists of five researchers combining their experiences in quantitative health research, policy analysis and health equity studies.The covid-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a global political response that is unprecedented in magnitude.

Understanding how pandemic policy deals with health inequities that emerge as a result of complex interactions between exposure, vulnerability and social consequences of covid-19 will be essential in preparing for future pandemics.