Why Do We Have Health Disparities in the African American Community?
By: Amaka Nwozo Dds
Tags: BlackLivesMatter, Health Disparities, Covid 19, Racism, African American

2. Lack of healthcare access

Lack of access to high-quality health care can lead to higher mortality rates among low-income African Americans. Many low income African Americans are more likely to be uninsured than non-Hispanic whites. Lack of healthcare access due to lack of transportation, child care, or inability to take time off of work are factors that lead to higher mortality rates among black people.

3. Higher rates of disease

There is a higher rate of disease and death among African Americans compared to non-Hispanic whites.

Below are comparisons of medical conditions between African Americans and non-Hispanic Whites.

The Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid -19 pandemic has revealed the terrible health disparities that exist in our society today. Covid-19 affects black people disproportionately. Death rates for African American people aged 45–54 were seen to be 6 times higher than death rates of non-Hispanic whites. Many African Americans with underlying medical conditions like obesity, asthma, heart disease have an increased risk for contracting Covid-19. All these factors can lead to increased hospitalizations and deaths.

African Americans are disproportionately represented in essential work settings where the chances of getting infected with covid-19 are higher than in other places. These include healthcare facilities, farms, factories, grocery stores, and public transportation. They, therefore, have higher chances of contracting covid-19 due to exposure than non-hispanic whites. Many black people with limited job options are more likely to work at low-paying jobs that may put them at a higher risk of exposure to Covid-19. They can’t afford to miss work even when sick because they need money to buy food.

Many low-income African Americans also live in crowded conditions which makes it impossible to abide by the CDC's covid-19 prevention guidelines. House sharing due to evictions may also be on the rise and this could lead to overcrowding and higher chances of contracting covid-19.

Cancer

African Americans have the highest rate of mortality for all cancers combined compared with any other racial and ethnic group.

Compared to white men of the same age range, African American men have higher rates of stomach, colon, and prostate cancer. They also have lower 5 year survival rates.

Gastrointestinal cancers

African-American men and women are more likely to die of stomach, colon, and liver cancers compared with their white counterparts.

Breast cancer

African American women are almost 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. Research has shown that black women are more likely to develop a more aggressive breast cancer known as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Studies show that African American women with TNBC have worse clinical outcomes than women of European descent.

Black maternal deaths

There are very high rates of maternal deaths in the U.S. Black mothers in the U.S die 3-4 times more than white mothers, which is the widest of all racial disparities in the US. According to the CDC, Black women are 243 percent more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes. I am writing a book about this called Ignored and Forgotten: The epidemic of black maternal deaths in America. It will be coming out in 2021.

Diabetes

They are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes and more likely to die of complications from diabetes complications like end-stage renal disease compared with their white counterparts. African Americans are more likely to get lower limb amputations due to diabetes complications than whites. Limb amputations seem to be a common occurrence in rural areas where there are limited resources.

African Americans are twice as likely to die from diabetes as whites.

Heart disease

African Americans are more likely to have high blood pressure and less likely to control it compared to their white counterparts. They are also more likely to die of heart disease. Hypertension in particular is a common health condition in African Americans and it leads to strokes, heart failure, heart attacks, and peripheral artery disease. Despite the fact that antihypertensives are prescribed to African Americans with hypertension, they are more likely to die from cardiovascular-related diseases compared to their white counterparts. A large study was conducted in the ’80s on African Americans ages 18–30 who were free of hypertension to track their blood pressure for 30 years. The goal of the study was to see how many African Americans developed high blood pressure and at what age they developed it compared to whites. At the end of the study, it was determined that 75% of blacks in the study developed hypertension compared to 55% of white men and 40% of white women.

Obesity

African American women have the highest rates of obesity compared to all other races in the United States. Around 4 out of 5 African American women are overweight or obese. Obesity can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol especially LDL cholesterol, diabetes. These are all risk factors for heart disease and cerebrovascular disease (stroke). African Americans are 20 percent less likely to engage in active physical activity as compared to their whites counterparts.

Strokes

African Americans are 50 percent more likely to have a stroke compared to their white counterparts and African American men are 60 percent more likely to die from it.

Mental health

More white people receive mental health services than African Americans and this could be due to the stigma associated with mental health disorders among black people. White people tend to receive prescription medication for mental health services more than African Americans.

African-Americans tend to report serious psychological stress more than white people.

Infant mortality

Studies have shown that black babies were twice as likely to die in their first year of birth compared to white babies.

Better access to care including frequent prenatal visits can make a big difference in outcomes.

Asthma

African American children have a 500% higher death rate from asthma compared with white children.