The Plague Economy: Profits, Policy, and Pandemics: The Hidden Economics of Infectious Disease and the Fight for Global Health Equality

The Plague Economy

Why is the distance between a lifesaving cure and a dying patient measured in political power rather than miles?

In The Plague Economy, Mark Green dismantles the myth that deaths from infectious diseases are merely biological inevitabilities. Beginning with a devastating cholera outbreak in the wards of a Lagos hospital and stretching across forty countries and four decades of global health policy, Green exposes the hidden mechanisms that decide who survives a fever and who does not.

This groundbreaking investigation reveals the stark reality of modern medicine: the tools to prevent outbreaks exist, but access to them is controlled by an invisible ledger of trade negotiations, funding deficits, and DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Year) calculations that systematically devalue vulnerable lives. The Plague Economy takes readers behind the closed doors of international financing meetings and into the grueling, unglamorous realities of community health workers like Doris Mwesiga, who fight against a deeply flawed global accounting system.

A compelling blend of medical history, economic analysis, and social justice, this book challenges conventional narratives about pandemics, malaria, and antibiotic resistance. It is a vital, eye-opening read for anyone seeking to understand the intersection of human choice, public policy, and the true cost of global health inequity.