Summary
The article below summarises a paper produced by GCPH discussing the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on BME Communities, and the causes for this.
Making A Difference
The micro briefing will be widely disseminated amongst city leadership structures and committees, with the intention of informing and advising the development of future policy and initiatives.
This article relates to a micro briefing paper produced by Glasgow Centre for Population Health, supported by the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights & Policy Scotland. The full paper is available on the Policy Scotland website here. It aims to present evidence demonstrating three key points: COVID-19 disproportionately impacted BME Communities; pre-existing inequalities were a driver for this disproportionate impact; and racism and discrimination are root causes for these pre-existing inequalities. The summary of the briefing paper, featured below, was provided by Chris Harkins, Public Health Programme Manager: COVID-19 Community Recovery at GCPH.
COVID-19 Micro Briefing: The disproportionate burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black and minority ethnic groups – December 2021
Across almost all measurements of health, Black and minority ethnic (BME) people, have the worst outcomes. In terms of global public health, the COVID-19 pandemic has become yet another mean of perpetuating and indeed worsening health inequalities among BME groups. There is the understanding that the fundamental cause of these adverse pandemic outcomes for BME groups is rooted in longstanding, pre-existing socioeconomic and health inequalities, including those driven by discrimination and racism.
The purpose of this micro briefing is to act as an introduction to the key evidence concerning the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 among BME groups. The introduction contains key points and a figure summary of the key concepts of the evidence reviewed. Thereafter, the briefing covers these points in more detail and is structured in three sections:
- Disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on BME populations
BME populations have experienced the highest COVID-19 infection and death rates alongside other disproportionate social impacts. Within Scotland, improvements are needed in ethnicity data quality in order to accurately assess this.
- Pre-existing inequalities as a driver of ethnic disparity in COVID-19 outcomes
Evidence from global perspectives and from other parts of the UK make clear that the undue pandemic impacts on BME populations relate to pre-existing inequalities in health, employment, income, opportunity, and access to health services. Much of these pre-existing inequalities are driven by discrimination and racism.
- Racism and discrimination – the ‘causes of the causes’ within BME health inequalities, including COVID-19
Dismantling racism is essential to achieving health equity. Racism is a fundamental determinant of health and a systemic problem which demands structural interventions and reforms. Failure to do so will hinder pandemic recovery efforts and will increase the vulnerabilities of BME groups to similar pandemics, natural disasters, and emergencies.
