Becoming Aware of Our RIGHTS: Minority Health Opportunities and Equity- Part 2
According to The Guardian, because structural racism and health equity have left minority populations with inferior health, housing, and economic conditions, minorities living in America were more likely to contract and pass away from COVID-19 during the early months of the pandemic. This is an example of minorities in the United States not having health equity.
Although everyone was affected by the racial inequalities in the health care system, black communities in the United States during COVID were one of the most affected. In an article by New York Amsterdam News, is mentioned that rates in the city are at their lowest compared to the areas in Central Brooklyn and Southeast Queens, which remains over 3% positive. Even though there were enough vaccines for everyone that lived in New York and was 16 and over, the vaccines were not reaching out to these black communities. "Yet, the vaccination rates across the city reflect stark racial and socioeconomic disparities," said Allie Bohm of the NYCLU.
You may be asking yourself what exactly is health equity?
According to the CDC, Health equity is the state where everyone can attain their highest level of health. Constitutional rights in the United States make sure that people are treated with fairness and that people can have the same rights as others. As you may know, even though this is a constitutional right in the United States, people of other races or colors are still being treated differently than others.
What groups may get treated unequally in the United States?
Some groups that are considered minorities in the United States are the Latinos, immigrants, and African Americans. These minority groups are being failed everyday by the United States government. Every day we see more news about racism in the United States and how what are considered minority groups in the United States are treated with inequality.
The image above is showing statistics of how groups are being treated differently in the United States compared to white people. According to this statistic, Black people are treated worse than other minority groups in the United States. The statistics also show if they are treated worse, better or with no difference than white people.
Many health organizations have been publishing reports and articles of suggestions of how to improve minority health in the United States. Alexander N. Ortega and Dylan H. Roby, two professors from the Department of Health at different universities, published an article and provided reports that health organizations have made. The Heckler Report, also known as the Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health, was published in 1985 by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health. This research conducted a thorough analysis of racial and minority health and provided suggestions for a national agenda to improve minority health. The Institute of Medicine's Unequal Treatment report from 2003 found inequities in health and medical care and offered suggestions for action in the form of practice changes and new areas for investigation. The National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) was established as an institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2010 because of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) passage, with the mission of eradicating inequities in health.
Have these reports made a difference?
The healthcare system is still, for what it's worth, racist despite all the efforts made by these organizations to establish an equal health care system and all the demands for action made to the healthcare professionals.
What sources are being provided to minorities for the health concerns?
According to the non-profit organization called the Kaiser Family Foundation, racial and ethnic inequities in health and healthcare have been made more visible and severe by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite all the racist inequalities for minority groups in the United States, some health organizations in the United States are providing sources for people of color who are often less likely to have private health insurance. Due to their higher probability of having low incomes, people of color may have more difficulty affording private coverage. Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which are the main sources of coverage for some children of color, contribute to addressing these gaps in private coverage for racial minorities.
After all the evidence that has been shown proving that racism exists in the United States, people will say that the minorities in the United States are just being "dramatic" and that there are not "concerns" about health equity among these communities.
According to an interview made by CNN, a Trump administration official said, "There is not systemic racism";"They are the few bad apples, in my opinion, and they should be eradicated."
These responses made by the president administrations make people think that there is nothing we can do about racism and that is not a big deal in the United States when clearly all the evidence says otherwise.
While many will say that health organizations are trying to address these issues and give equal opportunities to people of color and immigrants; the system is still failing many immigrants and people of color because of racist beliefs. Although racism will always exist in the United States, we can prevent unequal opportunities towards minority groups and have a better system where everyone is treated equally and have the same health opportunities
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