Covid-19 increased regional inequalities in mortality

The covid-19 pandemic hit the most vulnerable Czech regions, which were already struggling before the crisis, the hardest. Regional disparities in mortality rates have increased, with the structure of the population playing a major role, as well as the acceptance or non-acceptance of preventive health measures, specifically vaccination. This is the result of research by SYRI National Institute scientists, currently published in the prestigious scientific journal Applied Geography.

Economic, health or other types of crises tend to affect more vulnerable populations while increasing levels of inequality. This was again evident during the pandemic, which SYRI researchers tested with county-by-county mortality data. „The results confirmed the widening of regional disparities during the health crisis, with the most vulnerable regions being the hardest hit. Thus, regional differences in mortality increased," said Pavlína Netrdová from SYRI and the Faculty of Science of Charles University.

Read more: Exploring vulnerability amplification in regional health inequality: COVID-19 case study in Czechia – ScienceDirect