5 Ways the Health-Care System Can Stop Amplifying Racism

5 Ways the Health-Care System Can Stop Amplifying Racism
Lead Author: Ezekiel J. Emanuel
Submitted by: Janice Radway, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

The coronavirus pandemic didn’t create the health disparities among Americans, but it has exposed once again how stark the problem is. Black and Latino patients are two to three times as likely as white patients to be diagnosed with COVID-19, and more than four times as likely to be hospitalized for it. Black patients are more than twice as likely to die from the virus. They also die from it at younger ages. COVID-19 has exacerbated long-standing trends: Black and Latino Americans have lower rates of insurance coverage, a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, worse health outcomes, and a lower life expectancy. People in the health-care world sometimes speak of these patterns as if they are inevitable facts of life—something the industry is powerless to change. More doctors and hospitals need to acknowledge and address how the U.S. health-care system is rife with structural racism. For decades, American medicine has discriminated against people of color.

Read the full article in The Atlantic here.

Publications Committee Mission: “To bring high quality reporting of current research, trends, techniques and information regarding SP methodology and other relevant industry articles to the attention of the membership through the web-based ASPE eNews blog.”

Please provide comments, questions or suggestions about the ASPE eNews Blog here.

Share this post:

Comments on "5 Ways the Health-Care System Can Stop Amplifying Racism"

Comments 0-5 of 0

Please login to comment