Ghana’s public health insurance scheme was designed to provide basic care for all. But in reality those who would rather pay upfront than enrol get better treatment.
A gap between rich and the poor in cancer deaths for middle-aged people is growing. Deaths from cancer have fallen over time, but less so in our poorest regions where there is less health care access.
Low oxygen levels can be a sign that a patient is in danger. A device that measures oxygen levels has been shown to miss low oxygen levels in Black people much more often than in white people.
Sevonna Brown of Black Women’s Blueprint, a mutual aid group, with her son in Brooklyn, New York. Mutual aid groups have been formed across New York City to address the economic plight caused by COVID-19.
Stephanie Keith via Getty Images
Blacks are at greater risk of dying from COVID-19 than whites. A study that examined racism at the country level had surprising results.
Emergency medical technicians bring a patient into Wyckoff Hospital in the Borough of Brooklyn on April 6, 2020 in New York.
Bryna R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images.
While African Americans account for about 14% of the US population, they have accounted for about 60% of deaths from the virus. Several physicians offer an idea they think could help.
A portrait of George Floyd hangs on a street light pole as police officers stand guard at the Third Police Precinct during a face off with a group of protesters on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis.
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Shervin Assari, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Police killings of black men gain widespread attention, but black men’s life-and-death issues are ignored on a daily basis, a physician who studies health gaps explains.
Black youth may be less likely to share their thoughts of loneliness or depression than other youth, which could be a reason for higher rates of death by suicide among black youth.
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African American youth are at increased risk for death by suicide. An expert explains why it’s important to better understand the effects of racism, bullying and alienation on black youth.
Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis on April 3, 1968, giving the last speech of his life. He addressed social inequalities, discussing the low pay of garbage workers in that city.
Charles Kelly/AP File Photo
On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. At the root of the injustice that King preached about is structural inequalities. An expert explains what that means.
Homelessness is a major driver of HIV/AIDS.
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Maria De Jesus, American University School of International Service
President Trump recently announced in his State of the Union message that his administration will eliminate HIV within 10 years. He did not mention the social factors that must be addressed.
An African American man in a hospital bed. Studies show that pain in African American patients is often not addressed.
pixelheadphoto/digitalskillet
Gaps in care and outcomes between African-Americans and white patients is a major concern to those who care about fairness in health care. Gaps in care also exist at end of life, too.
Policymakers are responding to a growing recognition of food as medicine.
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Diet-related illnesses cost more than US$1 trillion and immeasurable human suffering and pain. Policymakers are beginning to understand that it makes sense to support food-as-medicine initiatives.
Discrimination creates gaps in care between white and black men.
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White men hold more racial bias toward blacks than white women do, and this harms blacks’ health in significant ways. It not only can lead to some diseases but also impedes treatment.
African-American women at a breast cancer awareness walk in Rego Park, New York.
Anthony Correia/Shutterstock.com
Research has resulted in advances in treating breast cancer in recent decades, but a wide gap exists in mortality rates between African-American women and white women. Here’s a look into why.
African-American women are about three times more likely to be diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease.
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Researchers have long been looking for clues into how to treat triple negative breast cancer. Could fighter blood cells that infiltrate the tumor provide insight?
The highest incidence rates by state for the major cancers for men and women are in Queensland.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
Public health experts traditionally expect that the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be unwell and die before your time. But newly available data on cancer rates show that’s not always true.
A homeless camp in Los Angeles, where homelessness has risen 23 percent in the past year, in May 2017.
AP Photo/Richard Vogel
Americans, an independent group, tend to believe that people can “pull themselves up by their boot straps.” Yet bigger forces are at play in a person’s ability to gain education, a good job and money.
White men gain more health benefits from employment than do black men and women.
Angela Waye/from www.shutterstock.com
Employment is good for health, but it is even better for white men than for others. And unemployment is worse for white men than others. Could these findings shine light on our political situation?
From birth to end of life, African-Americans have worse health than whites. And, the gap keeps widening in some areas, as health care for some whites improves. What will
it take to close the gap?