- It’s easy for many people to assume that everyone has the same access to health care in the US (it is 2020, after all). But unfortunately, that's an incorrect and dangerous assumption.
The truth: Health disparities—that is, preventable, poor health outcomes experienced by socially disadvantaged populations—aren’t a new concept, but COVID-19 has shown they’re still very much a problem in the US, with black Americans bearing the brunt of severe outcomes of the disease.
In a recent analysis conducted by the non-partisan research group APM Research Lab, statisticians found that black Americans are dying from the virus at 2.4 times the rate of their white counterparts. But their analysis didn't stop there: the research lab broke down ethnicity in COVID-19 deaths across 40 states, where information was available. Here’s what they found:
1 in 1,850 black Americans has died
1 in 4,000 Latino Americans has died
1 in 4,200 Asian Americans has died
1 in 4,400 white Americans has died
The researchers also present this eye-opening data: If all minority groups died at the same rate as white Americans, about 13,000 black Americans, 1,300 Latino Americans and 300 Asian Americans would still be alive.
The Brookings Institution, an American research group, had similar conclusions from their data analysis and found that, in some areas across the country, black people represent about 80 percent of coronavirus cases. And preliminary data released by New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in April also found that black and Latino people in New York City are dying at twice the rate of Caucasians and Asian people.
Health disparities don’t just exist for minorities, though, and they’re not limited to COVID-19—they have a broader reach than most people think. Here’s what you need to know, generally-speaking, about health disparities and how they can affect people, plus what some organizations are doing to combat them.
What are health disparities?
Health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to reach your best health that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Population (CDC). Health disparities are often directly related to historical and current unequal distribution of social, political, economic, and environmental resources, the CDC says.
The word “disparity” is usually used to describe a difference in racial or ethnic outcomes, but it extends further than that. If there is a difference in health outcomes between groups of people, there is a health disparity, says the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). That means people can experience disparities due to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, age, disability, socioeconomic status, and even geographic location.
Health disparities can surface due to several factors, according to the CDC:
Poverty
Environmental threats
Inadequate access to health care
Individual and behavioral factors
Educational inequalities
The point: Although not everyone is aware that health disparities exist, they’re extremely common. “It is important that people are aware of health disparities because they reflect the injustices that exist in our society,” Devin English, PhD, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health, tells Health.
How can health disparities impact people?
It depends. Health disparities technically affect everyone—it’s just the impact that varies. “White, cisgender, and straight people have the longest lifespans in the U.S.,” English says. “This is not because of any biological reason, but rather because they benefit from systems of white supremacy and anti-LGBTQ+ hate. So, what we see is that the impact is positive for privileged groups and destructive for groups that face marginalization.”