ABSTRACT
This chapter examines broad trends in health status (Maternal Mortality Rates (MMR), deaths under the age of 5 years and life expectancy at birth) in various world regions between 1945–1980 and 1980–2020, tracing their relationship with patterns of development under different historical periods of global capitalism. This is followed by a discussion of the influence and impact of competing ideologies in politics and macroeconomics on healthcare reform and public health finance, focusing on the dialectical impact of neoliberalism on health services provision and population health. We then discuss prevailing state responses to the unfolding Covid-19 pandemic and global economic crisis, exploring implications for health inequalities and the future of neoliberalism. Our chapter concludes with reflections from the perspective of social, moral and ecological imaginations about possible reforms, transformations, and paradigm shifts in the global political economy that could contribute to enhanced health and social well-being in a post-Covid-19 world.
