The emergence of ingenious and dogged fact-based research, data mapping and analysis has made tremendous improvements in public health. Before a vaccine or an effective treatment can come into play, data is the first line of defence against a new pandemic.

Epidemiologist William Farr identified the importance of medical statistics in the 19th century when he began studying cholera mortality reports in London. The painstaking work of past data detectives like Farr and groundbreaking sociologist WEB Du Bois, who studied race and health in the US, revealed the extent of health inequalities between poor and rich and black and white communities, and how the two were often correlated. Show less