The interview was a good read right up until the end, where it went political. I don't know about the UK, but the US doesn't have any systemic inequality in availability of healthcare. Anyone can walk into a clinic or hospital and get the care they need. And no, not having money to pay for healthcare is not a racial issue. It's an economic issue.
In the UK healthcare is free* but non-white people still tend to get worse outcomes and in the case of COVID-19 it appears that some genetic factor makes it worse for them. Even after that became apparent there wasn't much effort made to do anything about it, e.g. to shield black/Asian healthcare staff.
* It's free but the Home Office has been discriminating against non-white people for a decade, taking away their right to healthcare illegally and unfairly.
In the UK healthcare is free* but non-white people still tend to get worse outcomes
I'm not sure that's true. I think that the issue is poverty and black families tend to be poorer (which is at least partly due to systemic racism) but even with COVID I don't think the research suggests that the issue is directly related to skin colour or other genetic characteristics commonly possessed by people with black skin. Poor white people have very similar outcomes, including with COVID. However, there is a lot of research on this and not a lot of clarity (which in itself is suggestive of there bei
A lot of it is due to poverty, which itself is linked to race in the UK, but also simply because medical research tends to target affluent white people because they are the biggest market. Issues that mostly affect non-white people get less attention and money thrown at them. Medical staff tend to be less familiar with them.
A lot of it is due to poverty, which itself is linked to race in the UK, but also simply because medical research tends to target affluent white people because they are the biggest market. Issues that mostly affect non-white people get less attention and money thrown at them. Medical staff tend to be less familiar with them.
Affluent people are probably also more likely to get recruited into medical studies and have the time to participate, especially if subjects are recruited from existing patients (for example we take our daughter to see a specialist and they ask every time if we would be willing to be included in a research study if they wanted us to). Poorer people are probably less likely to see doctors to begin with (so there's a recruitment channel lost) and more likely to have work schedules that would preclude them from taking part in study activities such as checkups.
Systemic inequality? (Score:-1, Redundant)
The interview was a good read right up until the end, where it went political. I don't know about the UK, but the US doesn't have any systemic inequality in availability of healthcare. Anyone can walk into a clinic or hospital and get the care they need. And no, not having money to pay for healthcare is not a racial issue. It's an economic issue.
Re: (Score:4, Insightful)
In the UK healthcare is free* but non-white people still tend to get worse outcomes and in the case of COVID-19 it appears that some genetic factor makes it worse for them. Even after that became apparent there wasn't much effort made to do anything about it, e.g. to shield black/Asian healthcare staff.
* It's free but the Home Office has been discriminating against non-white people for a decade, taking away their right to healthcare illegally and unfairly.
Re: (Score:5, Interesting)
In the UK healthcare is free* but non-white people still tend to get worse outcomes
I'm not sure that's true. I think that the issue is poverty and black families tend to be poorer (which is at least partly due to systemic racism) but even with COVID I don't think the research suggests that the issue is directly related to skin colour or other genetic characteristics commonly possessed by people with black skin. Poor white people have very similar outcomes, including with COVID. However, there is a lot of research on this and not a lot of clarity (which in itself is suggestive of there bei
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
A lot of it is due to poverty, which itself is linked to race in the UK, but also simply because medical research tends to target affluent white people because they are the biggest market. Issues that mostly affect non-white people get less attention and money thrown at them. Medical staff tend to be less familiar with them.
Re:Systemic inequality? (Score:3)
A lot of it is due to poverty, which itself is linked to race in the UK, but also simply because medical research tends to target affluent white people because they are the biggest market. Issues that mostly affect non-white people get less attention and money thrown at them. Medical staff tend to be less familiar with them.
Affluent people are probably also more likely to get recruited into medical studies and have the time to participate, especially if subjects are recruited from existing patients (for example we take our daughter to see a specialist and they ask every time if we would be willing to be included in a research study if they wanted us to). Poorer people are probably less likely to see doctors to begin with (so there's a recruitment channel lost) and more likely to have work schedules that would preclude them from taking part in study activities such as checkups.