IUSSP Panel at the ESHD conference

Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, 30 august-2 september 2023

At the Fifth Conference of the European Society of Historical Demography, held under the theme "The Challenge of Comparing Across Space and Time," the IUSSP Panel on Epidemics and Contagious Diseases: The Legacy of the Past was present and made contributions across multiple sessions. Many presentations at the conference addressed the broad spectrum of historical health inequalities, with a particular focus on epidemics. Noteworthy topics included discussions on cholera epidemics in Poznan, smallpox outbreaks in Denmark, infectious diseases during childhood in the Netherlands, infectious diseases prevalent in South African cities, and infant mortality in urban colonial Senegal.

Furthermore, a plenary session titled "Comparing Diseases, Health, and Mortality Trends Over Time and Across Regions" featured insights from scholars such as Alice Reid from Cambridge University, Eric Schneider from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Jörg-Peter Vögele from the University of Düsseldorf, and Ingrid van Dijk from Lund University. These experts shared their perspectives on the future direction of research in the field.

In summary, the conference proved to be a dynamic and enlightening event, offering valuable inspiration for advancing our panel's work and organizing specialized workshops and training sessions in the near future. The recently obtained financial support provided by the EU COST-Action ‘The Great Leap: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Health Inequalities, 1800-2022’, ensures that these initiatives will continue to thrive and evolve.