Spatial inequality, infectious diseases and disease control

Spatial inequality is the unequal distribution of resources and services across different areas or locations, such as healthcare, welfare, public services, household income and infrastructures. The distribution of such characteristics over space can be described in terms of proximity, distance, clustering and concentration. Spatial inequality can be visible in the urban/rural divide, between states or nations, or between more and less deprived areas within the same geographical unit.

Spatial inequalities are associated with health and social inequalities and affect population health. Understanding the extent and nature of differences between places, and their trends, can support the development of policies, strategies and interventions that have an impact on morbidity and mortality of different diseases.

As most of the world’s fastest growing cities are in Asia and Africa, the way infectious diseases coexist and interact with evolving rural and urban spaces, as well as with interfaces between human and wildlife, is increasingly complex.

This collection focuses on emerging infectious diseases in humans and animals, including the impact of antimicrobial resistance, and brings together research that investigates the relationship between spatial inequalities of all kinds and the impact and prevalence of these infectious diseases. This collection will also welcome papers that seek solutions towards disease control across areas with particularly unequal distribution of resources and opportunities.

All submissions in this collection undergo the journal’s standard peer review process.

This collection has been peer reviewed by the Editorial Boards of One Health Outlook, Globalization and Health, Parasites & Vectors, Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials, AIDS Research and Therapy, Malaria Journal, Gut Pathogens, International Journal of Health Geographics, Infectious Diseases of Poverty, Health Research Policy and Systems, Human Resources for Health, and International Journal for Equity in Health.