COVID-19 and inequality in Namibia: A vicious syndemic?

Past pandemic experiences in this century indicate that diseases overlap with social conditions, particularly when there is a significant contraction in the economic activities, resulting in different outcomes for different population segments. On average, this intersection between biological and sociological factors disproportionally hurts the marginalised, further widening existing social inequalities; Namibia is no exception. When Namibia recorded her first two COVID-19's cases on 13 March 2020, and like most affected countries, the science that guided the Namibian government policy response was largely based on an infectious disease model. As a result, mostly medical driven measures, such as social distancing and restrictions on movements, were implemented instead of an integrated approach that focused on both biological and sociological factors. Unintendedly, however, these measures also negatively affected the domestic economic activities, further aggravating the economic recession experienced in the country since 2016, ultimately leading to an increase in the country's inequality level. Using a theoretical-driven methodology, this paper through the reviewing of existing literature and secondary sources, analysed the relationship between COVID-19 infection and socio-economic conditions. Working on the assumption that COVID-19 should be regarded as a syndemic rather than a pandemic, the paper's aim is to assess COVID-19's impact on the most marginalized and vulnerable section of the population. We argue that for Namibia to combat a syndemic-like situation, COVID-19 measures should have been holistic and directed towards addressing both the biological factors of the pandemic and the existing inequalities. This implies that an approach of concentrating efforts exclusively on health aspects in the medium to long term may be ineffective.