<p>In <em><strong>The BMJ</strong></em> today, Keisha Bentley-Edwards at Duke University, North Carolina, and colleagues argue that systemic racism and economic inequality are at the root of disparity in covid-19 outcomes and suggest how to distribute resources more equitably. </p>
US Fails to Learn Lessons from Racial Disparities in Covid-19 miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Keisha Bentley-Edwards and colleagues argue that systemic racism and economic inequality are at the root of disparity in covid-19 outcomes and suggest how to distribute resources more equitably.
The story of covid-19 in the United States is one of many systemic failures to protect its residents from preventable illness and death. Racist stereotypes about disease susceptibility1 were subsequently discredited by the data.2 Covid-19 brought the US to a sobering standoff with race, a social construct that through systemic racism materializes as disparate outcomes (box 1).3 Once testing became available researchers disaggregated and analyzed data along racial lines, providing a more accurate understanding that was unsurprising to anyone who has examined health equity4: covid-19 is a preventable disease that disproportionately affects racial minorities. Although the effects were felt in all racialized communities, they were magnified most powerfully for black, Latino, and indigenous people
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related issues than white women.