Racial Disparities in Women's Health
- TeenToTeen
- Sep 8, 2020
- 3 min read
Due to the rise of COVID-19, there has been medical focus on the elderly because they are more susceptible due to their weaker immune systems.. However, recently there has been a shift of focus to minorities, especially the Hispanic community. Why are Hispanic communities reporting higher cases of COVID-19 compared to whites or other ethnic minorities? The same reason why in 2017, African Americans made up 70% of gonorrhea cases and 50% of Chlamydia and Syphilis cases. The same reason why from 2013 to 2015, Native Hawaiians died of every cancer type more than other races. The culprit for all of these statistics and many more is called “Health Disparities”
According to News-Medical.net, health disparities are the inequalities that occur in the provision of healthcare and access to healthcare across different racial, age, and socioeconomic groups. There are many factors that play into health disparities such as the following: race, ethnicity, immigrantion status, disabilities, gender, sexual orientation, location, and income. Some health disparities however are more based on personal factors such as lack of access to healthcare, poverty, exposure to environmental problems, lack of education, or the person’s past and current medical/ behavioral issues. Generally speaking, minorities have a higher prevalence of chronic conditions along with higher mortality rates and poorer health outcomes. For the purpose of this article, we will be talking about the racial aspect of health disparities.
When talking about reproductive illnesses and racial health disparities, there are many concerning statistics. For instance, according to Healthypeople.gov, the lack of education and resources in minority communities have resulted in a large number of HIV cases which go either untreated or un-diagnosed. This leads to larger health conditions we see in minorities later in life (Especially for ages 15-24). There is also evidence that pregnancy related deaths in Blacks and Natives Americans older than 30 are 4-5 times higher than white women. Blacks and Native Americans experience higher pregnancy related mortality rates (40.8 and 29.7 respectively) than other ethnic minorities. Switching to the Hispanic and Latino population, the AIDS epidemic affects Hispanics greater than any other race, causing them to make up 1/4th of the cases. Back in 2014, 56% of the teen pregnancies were unattended to and those numbers have hardly shifted since. As a group, African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to get smaller dosages of pain medication than whites. These are only some of the reproduction disparities in Native Americans, Blacks, and Hispanics that have been seen over the past decade.
The health and racial disparities do not stop there. Blacks have a 10% higher cancer rate than whites. They also have double the infants deaths per a thousand compared to whites. In 2017, the amount of Hispanic teen suicide was double that of their white peers. Asian Americans are 80% more likely to be diagnosed with end-stage renal disease than whites. Finally, Native Americans infant death rate is 1.5 times higher than the national average. No ethnic minority is truly safe from experiencing dis-proportionality when it comes to health care in the United States.
By all means, this issue is not a lost cause, there are many things you can do to help.
Research nonprofit organizations in your city that aim to decrease this health disparity gap and volunteer with them
Create your own campaign that aims to teach disadvantaged communities about health issues that could be affecting them
Propose an action plan to local doctors and physicians to help out disadvantaged communities
Promote healthy eating and habits to people in your life
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Research about the issues and have conversations about them
Health disparities and race is not going to completely disappear anytime soon, but it can lessen over time. From implicating what you know into your day to day life, or by creating a fundraiser event to support research into these issues, you have the power to make this change.
Name: Leighton Gammage
Editor: Nathalia Ramkissoon
Sources
Comments