https://www.scmp.com/rss/288169/feed Joseph Chamie is an independent consulting demographer and a former director of the United Nations Population Division. Reprinted with permission from YaleGlobal Online http://yaleglobal.yale.edu en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com A century ago, people woke up ill in the morning and fell dead by evening. Considered the deadliest pandemic in human history, global influenza infected a third of humanity, killing no less than 50 million and perhaps as many as 100 million people.  The pandemic coincided with the first world war. Following the initial outbreak, massive troop deployments in densely packed quarters and numerous civilian travellers facilitated the spread of the virus to every corner of the globe.  In a typical... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2133804/another-flu-pandemic-coming-and-world-isnt-prepared?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2133804/another-flu-pandemic-coming-and-world-isnt-prepared?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Feb 2018 07:33:34 +0000 While governments and institutions grapple with economic uncertainty and volatility, an important factor is often overlooked: demography. Demographic trends can provide relative certainty in the near term to deal with debt, taxes, unemployment and entitlements, to name a few. Dismissal of these major demographic trends can result in ill-conceived policies, unsustainable programmes and squandered resources. First, at an estimated seven billion, the world's population is growing at 1.1 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1106837/seven-population-trends-hold-key-good-public-policies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1106837/seven-population-trends-hold-key-good-public-policies?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000