Action not words needed over biggest public health failure of our time: pneumonia | Larry Elliott

Global elite at Davos 2019 must do more than talk about real-world problems

Davos this year will be like Hamlet without the prince. Donald Trump was all set to be the star of the show for the second year running but has decided that giving a keynote address to a hall full of billionaires is politically problematical at a time when the US government is shut down.

Emmanuel Macron is giving the World Economic Forum a miss for similar reasons. If you have been dubbed the president of the rich the last place you want to be seen is at the annual gathering of the 1%. Theresa May has also decided she has better things to do with her time.

Related: Davos 2019: do the global elite have the will to fix the world's problems?

A child is dying every two minutes from something that could be easily and cheaply treated