COVID-19: Exposing and addressing health disparities among ethnic minorities and migrants (original) (raw)
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Covid-19, which has caused a severe pandemic to the whole world since December 2019, continues to spread while collapsing health systems, societies and economies; while leaving controversy behind. As the coronavirus spread globally demographics of the infected are identified and current evidences point ethnical "bias" of not only to the relatively higher infection rates among minority groups, but also to the severity of the clinical course. In communities where sanitation, prevention, and determined treatment standards for the current situation are not met, the results of the pandemic can be far more devastating.
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The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has challenged healthcare systems globally. The health inequities experienced by immigrants, refugees, and racial/ethnic minorities have been aggravated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The socioeconomic, political, and demographic profile of these vulnerable populations places them at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 and experiencing significant morbidity and mortality. Thus, the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionally higher among these at-risk groups. The purpose of this perspective is to: (1) highlight the interactions among the social determinants of health (SDoH) and their bi-directional relationship with the COVID-19 pandemic which results in the current syndemic and; (2) offer recommendations that consider an integrated approach to mitigate COVID-19 risk for marginalized populations in general. For these at-risk populations, we discuss how individual, structural, sociocultural, and soci...
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2021
Minority ethnic groups have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the exact reasons for this remain unclear, they are likely due to a complex interplay of factors rather than a single cause. Reducing these inequalities requires a greater understanding of the causes. Research to date, however, has been hampered by a lack of theoretical understanding of the meaning of ‘ethnicity’ (or race) and the potential pathways leading to inequalities. In particular, quantitative analyses have often adjusted away the pathways through which inequalities actually arise (ie, mediators for the effect of interest), leading to the effects of social processes, and particularly structural racism, becoming hidden. In this paper, we describe a framework for understanding the pathways that have generated ethnic (and racial) inequalities in COVID-19. We suggest that differences in health outcomes due to the pandemic could arise through six pathways: (1) differential exposure to the...
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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minority groups, with high rates of death in African American, Native American, and LatinX communities. Although the mechanisms of these disparities are being investigated, they can be conceived as arising from biomedical factors as well as social determinants of health. Minority groups are disproportionately affected by chronic medical conditions and lower access to healthcare that may portend worse COVID-19 outcomes. Furthermore, minority communities are more likely to experience living and working conditions that predispose them to worse outcomes. Underpinning these disparities are long-standing structural and societal factors that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed. Clinicians can partner with patients and communities to reduce the short-term impact of COVID-19 disparities while advocating for structural change.
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European Journal of Public Health, 2021
Studies from several countries have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionally affected migrants. Many have numerous risk factors making them vulnerable to infection and poor clinical outcome. Policies to mitigate this effect need to take into account public health principles of inclusion, universal health coverage and the right to health. In addition, the migrant health agenda has been compromised by the suspension of asylum processes and resettlement, border closures, increased deportations and lockdown of camps and excessively restrictive public health measures. International organizations including the World Health Organization and the World Bank have recommended measures to actively counter racism, xenophobia and discrimination by systemically including migrants in the COVID-19 pandemic response. Such recommendations include issuing additional support, targeted communication and reducing barriers to accessing health services and information. Some countries have had ...
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Social inequalities exist around the world limiting a group's social, health, and economic advancement. These unfavorable conditions inhibit people from having access to essential resources such as healthcare, housing, education, employment, and transportation. Consequently, inequalities in accessing indispensable social goods generally affects diets and overall health and wellness of individuals negatively. Unfortunately, this systemic problem tends to inflict greater harm to lower-income groups disproportionately. These limitations usually result in poorer health and higher rates of health problems. Historically, existing inequalities in society are manifested in moments of crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic (2019-2021) revealed overwhelming manifestation of this fact. The mortality rates for African Americans are more than triple the rates for whites after correcting for age, and the rates for Hispanic/Latinos are almost double the rates for non-Hispanic whites. According to t...
Immigrants, health, and the impact of COVID-19: A narrative review
F1000Research, 2023
While the COVID-19 pandemic has gravely challenged health systems globally, countries that host a large number of refugees are finding themselves even more burdened as providing preventive and curative services to refugees has proved to be a challenging task. The aim of this narrative review is to discuss the impact COVID-19 pandemic on immigrants, and seek to understand how COVID-19 affects provision of health services, access to health care and the socioeconomic situation. Like any other health challenge, COVID-19 has also left migrants susceptible to adverse outcomes, both directly and indirectly. Several factors limit their ability to avoid infections, access healthcare, and cope with socio-psychological impacts. In addition, undocumented immigrants or people living on short-term visit visas do not have full access to healthcare services in most countries. It is evident that COVID-19 has also influenced these workers leaving them jobless or receiving low wages or no pay, hence, this has hugely impacted the remittance and economic situation in their country. Extending access to healthcare to the entire immigrant population, irrespective of their legal status, is the cornerstone of an effective response to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unpacking the health and social consequences of COVID-19 through a race, migration and gender lens
Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2020
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as an unprecedented challenge for healthcare systems across the world. To date, there has been little application of a race, migration and gender lens to explore the long-term health and social consequences of COVID-19 in African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) communities in Canada, who have been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic. The evidence presented in this commentary suggests that recovery strategies need to adopt an intersectional lens taking into account race, migration and gender since ACB women and ACB immigrant women have been among the populations most impacted both personally and economically. To do so, there is an urgent need to incorporate variables capturing race, beyond “visible minority” status; gender, beyond looking at differences between women and men; and factors to help understand the complexities of migration trajectories (i.e., beyond the dichotomy of born in Canada versus not born in Canada categories) in Canadian datasets. We provide examples of policy and practice initiatives that will be urgently required to address the needs of these population groups as these race-based data become available.