COVID-19 Syndemics and the Global South

Inayat Ali leads the Department of Public Health and Allied Sciences at Fatima Jinnah Women University, and is Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at FJWU, Pakistan. He is also Research Fellow in the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna, Austria.Merrill Singer is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut, USA.Nicola Bulled is Assistant Research Professor at the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP), University of Connecticut, USA.

• IntroductionNicola Bulled, Merrill Singer, and Inayat Ali1 Sick in the City: COVID-19 and the Syndemics of Urban LifeMerrill Singer and Nicola Bulled2 Effects Multiplied: Syndemic Interactions among Structured Disparities, Comorbidities, and COVID-19 in PakistanInayat Ali3 Deadly Companions: The Diabetes/COVID-19 (DiaCOVID-19) Syndemic in Mexico and the U.S. Mexican DiasporaMerrill Singer and Jennifer A. Cook4 TB-COVID-19 Syndemic in the Philippines: A Double Challenge amidst Public Health Emergency and Social, Political, and Economic InequalitiesTrisha Denise D. Cedeño, Kimberly G. Ramos, Mary Grace A. Pelayo, Princess Rayevy I. Esmillo, and Ian Christopher N. Rocha5 “Active in the Community” and “Underlying Health Conditions”: Exploring Constructions of Blame, Responsibility, and Othering associated with Australia’s COVID-19 SyndemicKate Senior and Richard Chenhall6 Understanding the COVID-19 Syndemic in South Africa: Concrete Responses and a Call to ActionPeter van Heusden, Kezia Lewins, Louis Reynolds, and Laurel Baldwin-Ragaven7 COVID-19 Syndemics in Three Distinct South African Communities and the Impact on Shared Loss and GrievingLorena Nunez Carrasco, Gracsious Maviza, Vuyokazi Moyo, and Storm Theunissen8 The Iatrogenic Syndemic of COVID-19/Diabetes Mellitus/Black Fungus in India: Evidence of the Shortcomings of Neoliberal Healthcare PoliciesNicola Bulled9 COVID-19 lockdown and “Shadow Pandemic” of Gender-Based Violence in NigeriaChiemezie S. Atama and Obinna J. Eze10 Ecosyndemics, COVID-19, and Child Health in the AnthropoceneMerrill SingerConclusion: COVID Syndemics in the Global SouthMerrill Singer, Nicola Bulled, and Inayat Ali