Pandemics & Society Webinar 9 April, “Poverty and Ethnic Patterns in COVID-19 Excess Mortality: Evidence from Chile, 2020-2022”
For the ninth Pandemics & Society Seminar of our Spring 2026 series we are pleased to welcome Raj Kumar Subedi (Georgia State University). The seminar will be held on Thursday, 9 April at the normal time (16:00 CEST). More information about our speaker and the presentation is below. You can sign up for email notifications about the seminar series, including the Zoom details, here.
About the talk:
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted deep-rooted health inequities globally, with marginalized populations showing disproportionate disease burden. We employed Serfling regression models and multivariable analyses to estimate excess mortality across geographic, demographic, and poverty groups from 2020 to 2022 in Chile. Elderly populations (80+ years) experienced the highest excess mortality (267.35 per 10 000 population), more than 8 times higher than those under 80 years (30.80 per 10 000 population). Multivariable linear regression models showed both Indigenous proportion (coefficient = 53.66, P < .001) and elderly population proportion (coefficient = 5.68, P < .01) as the strong predictors of comuna level excess mortality. Poverty correlated significantly with excess mortality (r = 0.23, P < .001) but this association weakened after adjustment for other covariates in multivariable models. Excess mortality peaked in 2021 rather than in 2020 for most groups, with males initially experiencing higher rates during early pandemic waves. Spatial analyses revealed statistically significant clustering (Moran’s I = 0.119, P < .001) with identifiable hotspots in northern Chile and parts of the south. These findings indicated persistent mortality disparities by age and Indigenous status, independent of poverty, and highlight the urgent need for equity-focused pandemic preparedness. An effective pandemic response should integrate biomedical measures, such as vaccination, with culturally grounded strategies that address structural barriers and the broader social determinants of health.
You can read full paper here: Poverty and ethnic patterns in COVID-19 excess mortality: evidence from Chile, 2020-2022 | American Journal of Epidemiology | Oxford Academic
About the speaker:
Raj Subedi is Graduate Research Assistant at School of Public Health, Georgia State University, USA. He has a Master’s degree in Public Health from BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences and a background in public health research and has previously worked at various organizations, including the Nepal Public Health Foundation and St. Jude’s Recovery Center.