Why are so many ethnic minorities dying in the UK and US?
Data from the UK shows a disproportionate number of Covid-19 deaths are among Black and ethnic minority groups. In the US data is showing a similar story. So what’s going on?
In news reports and newspapers, pictures of British healthcare workers who have lost their lives to Covid-19 sit side by side.
And if you look at those faces one thing stands out clearly. Of the 119 cases of NHS deaths more than two thirds are black or an ethnic minority - yet they only make up 20% of the workforce. Figures from the National Health Service in England show a disproportionate number of Covid-19 deaths are amongst these groups. And it’s not just in the UK.
In the United States on available data – it’s a similar story with African Americans accounting for many more deaths in a community that make up 13% of the population.
So what’s going on?
Kavita Puri speaks with:
Dr Kamlesh Khunti, Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester
Professor Kathy Rowan, Director of the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre
Dr Consuelo Wilkins, Vice President for Health Equity at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Prof John Watkins, Professor Epidemiology, Cardiff University/Public Health Wales
(Ambulance workers transport patients to St Thomas' Hospital in Westminster, London, UK. Photo credit: Ollie Millington/Getty Images)
Last on
Clips
-
Coronavirus: Should BAME medics be shielded from the frontline?
Duration: 01:36
-
Coronavirus: How a lack of Vitamin-D affects your immunity
Duration: 01:51
-
Which health conditions make Covid-19 a more serious risk?
Duration: 01:42
Broadcasts
- Thu 7 May 2020 01:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service
- Thu 7 May 2020 07:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service
- Thu 7 May 2020 14:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service
- Thu 7 May 2020 19:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Thu 7 May 2020 21:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service East and Southern Africa
- Sat 9 May 2020 16:30GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4
- Mon 11 May 2020 09:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service
Podcast
-
The Inquiry
Getting beyond the headlines to explore the forces and ideas shaping the world