All articles tagged with #healthcare inequality
ProPublica's series on Albany, Georgia, reveals how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed systemic racial and economic disparities, highlighting the city's leadership's delayed acknowledgment of the crisis's severity and the role of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in shaping health outcomes for Black residents, emphasizing the need to address underlying inequalities in healthcare and community support.
The article discusses how a Chinese kidney transplant patient, overwhelmed by the healthcare system, relies on an AI chatbot called DeepSeek for medical advice, highlighting both its benefits in providing accessible, empathetic support and the risks of inaccuracies and over-reliance on AI in medical care.
Twin sisters in Northern Ireland, both diagnosed with heart failure, are highlighting disparities in healthcare access due to differing health trust policies. While Nicole receives cardiac rehabilitation in the Southern Trust, Farrah, under the Northern Trust, has not been offered the same support, leading to feelings of fear and frustration. The sisters call for a more equitable healthcare system, as current trust-specific criteria result in unequal access to vital cardiac rehab services. The Department of Health is consulting on improving access across trusts.
Despite universal newborn screenings for cystic fibrosis, children of color often face delays in diagnosis due to medical biases and misconceptions that the disease primarily affects white people. Rena Barrow-Wells' experience with her sons highlights the ongoing struggle for timely and accurate diagnosis in minority communities.
The World Health Organization predicts a more than 75% increase in global cancer cases by 2050, with the highest proportional increases expected in lower-income countries. Factors contributing to this rise include tobacco use, alcohol consumption, obesity, and population aging. Inequalities in cancer diagnosis and treatment outcomes exist between high and low-income regions, as well as within countries. Urgent action is needed to address healthcare inequalities, improve access to quality treatment, and prioritize cancer care globally.
Maternal deaths in the UK have reached a nearly 20-year high, with an average of 13.41 women per 100,000 dying during or after pregnancy from 2020 to 2022, a 53% increase from the previous three years. Leading causes of death included thrombosis, Covid, heart disease, and mental health-related issues. Black women were nearly three times as likely to die during or after pregnancy than white women, and women in the most deprived areas had nearly twice the maternal mortality rate. Experts emphasize the need for urgent action to address healthcare inequalities and improve maternity safety.
Long COVID presents a significant challenge in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to limited awareness and research, strained healthcare systems, and economic difficulties. Despite potentially similar prevalence rates to wealthier nations, the lack of data on long COVID in LMICs hinders advocacy and treatment efforts. Studies in various LMICs have shown high percentages of COVID-19 patients with persistent symptoms, but research is scarce, and treatments developed in richer countries may not be easily transferable. There's a need for global collaboration and data to understand long COVID's mechanisms and develop accessible treatments.
Tori Bowie, a three-time Olympic medalist in track and field, died from childbirth complications at her Florida home last month. The autopsy report indicated that Bowie was eight months pregnant and alone at home, undergoing labor at the time of her death. Her unborn child did not survive. According to her agent, Bowie was not actively performing a home birth when her baby started to arrive. Bowie's death highlights the healthcare inequality and systemic barriers that Black women face, as they are three times more likely than White women to die from pregnancy-related causes.
A new study published in JAMA reveals that the higher mortality rate among Black Americans resulted in 1.63 million excess deaths relative to white Americans over more than two decades. Black Americans have a higher mortality rate from heart disease, cancer, and infant mortality. Racial disparities in health are so entrenched that even education and wealth don’t fully erase them. The study is a call to action to improve the health of Black Americans, whose early deaths are fueled by higher rates of heart disease, cancer, and infant mortality.