Currently, despite being approximately 13% of the U.S. population, blacks constitute only 5% of all doctors and 10% of nurses.
The Disproportionate Impact of Covid-19 on Black Health Care Workers in the U.S.
by
May 14, 2020
Harvard Business Review
MOST OF THE IMMIGRANT DOCTORS INCLUDING THE LARGE CONTINGENT OF DOCTORS FROM INDIA DO NOT WORK IN AREAS WHERE THERE ARE BLACK AND POOR PEOPLE. RACISM IS NOT STRICTLY A WHITE PHENOMENON BUT IS ALSO RIFE AMONG PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE WHITE OR PRETEND TO BE WHITE.
Among primary care physicians as a whole, substantial racial/ethnic differences exist in how they distribute geographically (p < .0001). Black, Native American, and Hispanic groups have higher proportions practicing in HPSA, MUA/P, and rural areas compared with White primary care physicians and the Asian group, who have smaller proportions practicing in these areas.
Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs; as of February 2013),25 Medically Underserved Areas/Populations (MUA/P; as of February 2013),2
The Racial and Ethnic Composition and Distribution of Primary Care Physicians
FROM BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
“These health inequalities are all too visible in the toll covid-19 is having on black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in the UK. More than 90% of doctors who have died from the virus to date are from a BAME background
In a statement issued in response to the Black Lives Matter protests, the BMA said, “We stand in solidarity.”
“Black lives should matter to every individual and every medical professional,” the association added. “Racism breeds health inequalities impacting on our patients, it adversely affects our colleagues, and at its worst it kills, with black women five times more likely to die during childbirth than white women in the UK.
“These health inequalities are all too visible in the toll covid-19 is having on black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in the UK. More than 90% of doctors who have died from the virus to date are from a BAME background. Unless the government engages in actions, not just words, the covid-19 pandemic will continue to disproportionately impact on BAME healthcare workers and the communities they serve.”
BMJ 2020; 369 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2278 (Published 10 June 2020)
COVID 19 HAS SHOWN US THE DISPARITIES IN ALL THE SOCIETIES WHETHER IT IS IN THE USA OR MORE ENLIGHTENED SOCIETIES SUCH AS SWEDEN WHERE PROPORTIONATELY LARGE NUMBER OF SOMALI IMMIGRANTS HAD DIED OF COVID 19.
