Look back and learn: How past pandemics and epidemics inform COVID-19 response

The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in many ways, but some issues raised in the global health crisis are all too familiar. We dug through The New Humanitarian’s 25-year archive of reporting on pandemics and epidemics for eight takeaways to inform today’s response.

 What can History tell us about Epidemics?

Epidemics breed fear and suspicion that multiply more rapidly than any virus. When a mysterious illness erupts, the first unhelpful reaction is to panic – the second is to identify a culprit. Instead of leading to a remedy, blaming supposed sources reveals pre-existing faultlines within society.

A Global Plan to Defend Against the Future's Deadliest Diseases

$460 million will go toward developing vaccines that prevent outbreaks like Ebola from taking the world by surprise.

Controlling the global obesity epidemic

At the other end of the malnutrition scale, obesity is one of today’s most blatantly visible – yet most neglected – public health problems. Paradoxically coexisting with undernutrition, an escalating global epidemic of overweight and obesity – “globesity” – is taking over many parts of the world. If immediate action is not taken, millions will suffer from an array of serious health disorders.

Epidemic of Violence against Health Care Workers Plagues Hospitals

Hospital administrations and the judicial system do little to prevent assaults against nurses and other caregivers by patients.

Finding the Next Epidemic Before It Kills

Most virologists remain within the safe confines of the lab. Wolfe is one of a swashbuckling few who travel to the jungles of sub-Saharan Africa, exotic food markets in Southeast Asia and other far-flung locales to hunt down potential killer viruses before they find us.

History's Worst Epidemics

Some of the worst epidemics, widespread outbreaks of disease, have troubled mankind for millennia. In one of the earliest recorded epidemics, the Roman Empire lost almost a third of its population between 165 and 180 AD to Antonine Plague, a deadly virus contracted in the Middle East and brought back to the heart of the empire by returning soldiers.

HIV Around the World

HIV has reached every corner of the globe although some regions are more heavily affected than others. The vast majority of people living with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa. The scale of the epidemic has demanded substantial political and financial commitment from international organisations, donor countries and domestic governments. Here, we give you the latest global statistics, an overview of the global HIV response to date, and identify the major trends in the different regions and countries.

How Bad is the Opioid Epidemic?

e opioid epidemic has been called the worst drug crisis in American history. Death rates now rival those of AIDS during the 1990s, and with overdoses from heroin and other opioids now killing more than 27,000 people a year, the crisis has led to urgent calls for action. The epidemic didn’t happen overnight.

Inside the Dementia Epidemic: A Daughter's Memoir

Living with Alzheimer's disease or another dementia is a long, hard road, full of grief, anger and despair, but life continues after a diagnosis, and so can moments of joy.

Is There Really an Autism Epidemic?

A closer look at the statistics suggests something more than a simple rise in incidence.

The Epidemic of Antibiotic-Resistant Infections: A Call to Action for the Medical Community from the Infectious Diseases Society of America

The potential for such disasters to be followed by epidemics of communicable diseases is often presumed to be very high, but this has been overstated...

The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic

HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, “acquired immunodeficiency syndrome,” has become one of the world’s most serious health and development challenges. The first cases were reported in 1981...

The Neglected Suicide Epidemic

Alan Berman, the executive director of the American Association of Suicidology and the president of the International Association of Suicide Prevention, has said that in the developed world ninety per cent of those who attempt suicide suffer from psychological ailments.

The Opioid Epidemic: Rural Organizations Fight Back

Small town life has been turned upside down by opioid use, but across the nation, communities are implementing concrete and innovative tactics to get the problem of opioid drug abuse under control. It all just takes some inspiration, a little teamwork, and thinking outside of the box.

The Worst Outbreaks in U.S. History

Disease outbreaks are fairly rare and, when they do happen, are often overstated. In recent years, there has been plenty of handwringing and worrying over bird flu, swine flu, and other diseases. However, the fame of swine flu may be due more to the need to fill the 24-hour news cycle than anything else. Nevertheless, there have been some serious disease outbreaks in U.S. history.

Tracking the Hidden Epidemics

The epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States are often called “silent”or “hidden” epidemics.

What 11 Billion People Mean for Disease Outbreaks

The explosive growth of the human population—from 2.5 billion to 6 billion since the second half of the 20th century—may have already started changing how infectious diseases emerge.

What a Long-Ago Epidemic Teaches Us about Sleep

A form of encephalitis that caused both wakefulness and profound somnolence reveals much about our inner clocks.

Zika Is a Delayed Epidemic

What it means when an outbreak’s worst effects occur in the long-term.