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Vaccine passport is a new term that has recently entered the vocabulary of nation-states and those involved in the travel industry. A passport is a tool through which individuals can be mobile internationally and by which they can be identified, tracked, and regulated. Although the introduction of vaccine passports has facilitated the reopening of borders and air travel and assists with reviving economic situations of nation-states, it also means that those who carry proof of immunization are the only ones who may be able to travel freely. The citizens of many countries will not have access to vaccines nor vaccine passports in the near future. As such, the biopolitics of vaccination passports become entangled with preexisting global and domestic inequalities and risk further entrenching the immobilities of people in the periphery. In this article, we discuss the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the meaning of freedom of movement globally and how the introduction of vaccine passports perpetuates and exacerbates existing inequalities in terms of unequal access to international travel and freedom of movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Bladder, kidney and prostate cancers make significant contributors to cancer burdens. Exploring their cross-country inequalities may inform equitable strategies to meet the 17 sustainable development goals before 2030. Methods We analyzed age-standardized disability-adjusted life-years (ASDALY) rates for the three cancers based on Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019. We quantified the inequalities using slope index of inequality (SII, absolute measure) and concentration index (relative measure) associated with national sociodemographic index. Results Varied ASDALY rates were observed in the three cancers across 204 regions. The SII decreased from 35.15 (95% confidence interval, CI: 29.34 to 39.17) in 1990 to 15.81 (95% CI: 7.99 to 21.79) in 2019 for bladder cancers, from 78.94 (95% CI: 75.97 to 81.31) in 1990 to 59.79 (95% CI: 55.32 to 63.83) in 2019 for kidney cancer, and from 192.27 (95% CI: 137.00 to 241.05) in 1990 to − 103.99 (95% CI: − 183.82 to 51.75) in 2019 for prostate cancer. Moreover, the concentration index changed from 12.44 (95% CI, 11.86 to 12.74) in 1990 to 15.72 (95% CI, 15.14 to 16.01) in 2019 for bladder cancer, from 33.88 (95% CI: 33.35 to 34.17) in 1990 to 31.13 (95% CI: 30.36 to 31.43) in 2019 for kidney cancer, and from 14.61 (95% CI: 13.89 to 14.84) in 1990 to 5.89 (95% CI: 5.16 to 6.26) in 2019 for prostate cancer. Notably, the males presented higher inequality than females in both bladder and kidney cancer from 1990 to 2019. Conclusions Different patterns of inequality were observed in the three cancers, necessitating tailored national cancer control strategies to mitigate disparities. Priority interventions for bladder and kidney cancer should target higher socioeconomic regions, whereas interventions for prostate cancer should prioritize the lowest socioeconomic regions. Additionally, addressing higher inequality in males requires more intensive interventions among males from higher socioeconomic regions.

Abstract Aims Assessing the global burden and health inequalities of Hypertension Heart Disease (HHD) during the period from 1990 to 2019. Methods Secondary analysis of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study in 2019, focusing on the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors worldwide. Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) data related to HHD are extracted from the 2019 GBD. Inequality Slope Index (SII) and Concentration Index are calculated to assess health inequalities across regions and countries. Results The total DALYs for HHD reached 21.51 million, demonstrating a substantial increase of 54.25% compared to the figures recorded in 1990, while the age-standardized DALY rates per 100,000 population for HHD in 2019 showed a notable decline to 268.19 (95% UI 204.57, 298.07), reflecting a significant decrease of 26.4% compared to the rates observed in 1990. The DALYs rate of hypertensive heart disease increases with age. Countries with moderate SDI accounted for 38.72% of the global burden of HHD in terms of DALYs. The highest age-standardized DALY rates (per 100,000) are predominantly concentrated in underdeveloped areas. In 1990 and 2019, the SII (per 100,000 population) for DALYs were − 121.6398 (95% CI -187.3729 to -55.90684) and − 1.592634 (95% CI -53.11027 to 49.925) respectively. The significant decline suggests a reduction in the inequality of age-standardized burden of HHD between high-income and low-income countries during this period. Conclusion The unequal prevalence of HHD across different populations can hinder the achievement of the “health for all” objective. Persistent disparities in HHD have been observed globally over the past thirty years. It is crucial to prioritize efforts towards reducing avoidable health inequalities associated with hypertension-related heart disease, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries.

Despite the increasing visibility of sex in Africa's tourism industry, the continent is typically neglected in global narratives about sex tourism. The quintessential image of sex tourism is that of Global North tourists traveling to 'exotic' locations in the Global South such as East Asia, Latin America, or the Caribbean. Yet, Africa has been experiencing a growth in sex tourism bolstered by an increase in globalization-led tourism development. The continent was identified as the second-fastest growing tourism region in the world in 2019--after the Asia Pacific region--with an estimated 67 million visitors annually, and some of those tourists are bound to engage in sex tourism. Literature examining the global inequalities that inform sex tourism in the African economy using the perspectives of dependency theories and postcolonial theories is sparse but warranted. Expanding on these critiques of the politics of race, class, gender, and imperialism, this article explores interactions between Global North sex tourists and Global South hosts in the sex tourism industry in Africa. The article contends that the tourist gaze on sex workers in Africa's sex tourism industry is informed by representations of Africa and African sexuality in pop culture rooted in the colonial project and by contemporary power imbalances in the global tourism industry, which organizes raced, gendered, and classed tourist experiences. KEYWORDS: sex tourism; Africa; globalization; tourism; political economy, AFRICA'S GROWING SEX TOURISM INDUSTRY Although travel by Global North tourists into Africa is not new, Africa's share of global tourism has rapidly increased over the past few years. Subsequently, [...]

This article argues that Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-system approach was instrumental in revealing sociology’s theoretical and methodological blind spots and in formulating a comprehensive framework for the study of global inequalities. In doing so, it anticipated both the critique of Eurocentrism and methodological nationalism put forth by transnational and postcolonial approaches as well as the debates over the rise in global inequalities by several decades. I trace this analytical primacy to several factors: first, to world-systems analysis’ methodological shift from the nation-state to the entire capitalist world-economy as an early global sociology; second, to the relation between the methodological shift to the epistemological critique and their role in Wallerstein’s early approach to global inequalities. Finally, I address the relationship between the self-definition of world-systems analysis as a form of protest against mainstream social science (rather than as a theory) and the theoretical and political filiations with postcolonial and decolonial approaches in order to show how they contributed together to the prominence of global inequalities as a topic.

Intellectual property rights have played an increasingly important role in the global economy since the 1994 TRIPS Agreement. The nature of this role has since come under the spotlights: do intellectual property rights foster innovation or rent seeking? Do they promote knowledge diffusion and development, or do they skew global competition in favor of Western economies? This article explores some of the most striking developments that recently occurred in the world economy, namely, the rise of inequalities and the emergence of the secular stagnation, in the light of the intellectual property rights debate. This article contends that income inequalities, both between and within countries, are partially driven by monopoly rents accumulated by a minority of large Western corporations (inequality between countries) and redistributed to a minority of employees (within countries). In both cases, the imbalance of profit and wage distribution may be contributing to global slow growth by depressing investments and consumption, ushering in an era of secular stagnation, thereby explaining some of the current trends in the global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract What is new about contemporary remote control across borders? An important element is the reference to human rights norms by various political actors such as NGOs, migrant associations but also national governments, international organisations and an activist judiciary. It is evident that externalisation policies mirror stark power asymmetries of the global and regional political orders, and thus reflect social inequalities more generally. The contestation around externalized migration control has gone through several periods. Integral to an understanding of control are the practices of migrants themselves, how they seek to circumvent controls or even resist. Thinking further ahead, we may conceive of the border as a paradox, involving both connecting and separating humans and artefacts. Such an understanding of border allows for the possibility of coexistence; difference between two or more entities being a requirement. The border does not belong to either side. How to imagine such a type of border between states is a formidable challenge to social theory.

Aims: To assess the global burden and economic inequalities in the distribution of blindness and vision loss between 1990 and 2019., Methods: A secondary analysis of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019. Data for disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to blindness and vision loss were extracted from the GBD 2019. Data for gross domestic product per capita were extracted from the World Bank database. Slope index of inequality (SII) and concentration index were computed to assess absolute and relative cross-national health inequality, respectively., Results: Countries with high, high-middle, middle, low-middle and low Socio-demographic Index (SDI) had decline of age-standardised DALY rate of 4.3%, 5.2%, 16.0%, 21.4% and 11.30% from 1990 to 2019, respectively. The poorest 50% of world citizens bore 59.0% and 66.2% of the burden of blindness and vision loss in 1990 and 2019, respectively. The absolute cross-national inequality (SII) fell from -303.5 (95% CI -370.8 to -236.2) in 1990 to -256.0 (95% CI -288.1 to -223.8) in 2019. The relative inequality (concentration index) for global blindness and vision loss remained essentially constant between 1991 (-0.197, 95% CI -0.234 to -0.160) and 2019 (-0.193, 95% CI -0.216 to -0.169)., Conclusion: Though countries with middle and low-middle SDI were the most successful in decreasing burden of blindness and vision loss, a high level of cross-national health inequality persisted over the past three decades. More attention must be paid to the elimination of avoidable blindness and vision loss in low-income and middle-income countries., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

WHILE the COVID-19 pandemic's relentless cyclone continues across the globe wreaking havoc on economies and social systems, this book sheds light on the adversarial reporting culture of the media, and [...]

Many Low and middle-income countries face challenges in delivering chemotherapy services due to limitations in infrastructure, inadequate healthcare facilities, and a shortage of trained medical professionals. High-income countries often have well-developed healthcare systems and advanced technology., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

There is broad recognition by practicing taxonomists that the field is going through a crisis, which has been dubbed the “taxonomic impediment”. There are many aspects involved in said crisis, but publication practices in taxonomy are often neglected or relegated to the backseat. We provide an initial foray into this topic via a worldwide survey with taxonomists, spanning all botanical and zoological groups, and career stages. Demographically, most of the respondents identified themselves as males (70%), working in Europe or North America (68%), in universities (50%) or museums (27%). Over half of the respondents are established/late-career researchers (only about 25% of full professors were female), with a low number of early-career researchers and graduate students (i.e., taxonomists in training). Nearly 61% of the men acquired their highest title at least eleven years ago, while only 41% of the women did so. Nearly 92% of the respondents have published new species descriptions, while around 60% and 26% have synonymized, respectively, species-level or subspecies-level taxa. In general, respondents perceive the act of describing new species to be easier than synonymizing species (p = 0.05). Established/late-career researchers and male researchers, particularly in Oceania and North America, found it easier to publish nomenclatural acts such as new species descriptions, while early-career researchers had their acts contested more often. Our results reaffirm the low academic recognition of the field, the lack of funding for research and publishing charges especially in the Global South, and the difficulty in finding specialized outlets (and the low impact factor of those journals) as persistent issues in taxonomy. Other significant problems raised by respondents include ethical issues in the peer-review process, a bias against newcomers in the field coming either from established researchers or committees, and taxonomic vandalism.

COVID-19, Racism and Politicization: Media in the Midst of a Pandemic, edited by Kalinga Seneviratne and Sundeep R. Muppidi. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2021. 230 pages. ISBN: 9781527570894 WHILE the COVID-19 pandemic’s relentless cyclone continues across the globe wreaking havoc on economies and social systems, this book sheds light on the adversarial reporting culture of the media, and how it impacts on racism and politicisation driving the coverage. It explores the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of national and international media, and governments, in the initial coverage of the developing crisis. COVID-19, Racism and Politicization: Media in the Midst of a Pandemic, edited by Kalinga Seneviratne and Sundeep R. Muppidi