syndemic

[ sin-dem-ik ]

noun

1. the co-occurrence of more than one epidemic, as HIV and tuberculosis, or substance abuse and mental illness, especially in relation to the biological, social, and psychological interactions of these conditions:

   Poverty is a systemic precondition for the syndemic of obesity and undernutrition.

Word History and Origins

Origin of syndemic¹

syn(ergistic) ( def ) + (epi)demic ( def ); coined in 1944 by Merrill Singer, U.S. medical anthropologist (born 1950)