The British government is investigating whether Internal racial prejudice Certain medical devices cause disproportionate proportions of illness and death among blacks and Asians From COVID-19.
Health Minister Sajid Javid said on Sunday that the pandemic has highlighted racial and gender differences in health. He said that at the height of the pandemic, one-third of intensive care patients in the UK came from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, more than twice the proportion of their population.
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The Bureau of Statistics in the United Kingdom found that in the first year of the pandemic, until March 2021, even if factors such as occupation and potential health conditions are taken into account, the mortality rate of black British and South Asians is still higher than that of their white compatriots.
Javid said one problem is that studies have shown that pulse oximeters that measure blood oxygen levels through the skin do not work well on darker skin. He called this a “systematic” worldwide problem.
“Now, I am not saying that this was intentional by anyone. I think it is just a potential systemic problem. For medical equipment, it may go further than medical textbooks,” Javid told Sky News.
He wrote in the Sunday Times, “The possibility that prejudice-even if unintentionally-could lead to worse health outcomes is totally unacceptable.”
He said he hopes to work with his American counterpart, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, and officials from other countries to eliminate prejudice in the health system.
He said that a review in the UK will also focus on gender bias and will report its findings by the end of January.
The UK has recorded more than 143,000 deaths from the coronavirus, making it the country with the highest number of deaths in Europe after Russia.
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Europe is currently the only region in the world with an increase in COVID-19 cases, and many countries are re-implementing restrictions in response to the surge. Austria will enter a nationwide lockdown on Monday. Violent protests broke out in the Netherlands this weekend after the government said it would “restrict access to certain places for unvaccinated people.”
However, in the UK, cases are basically flat, and the number of deaths and hospitalizations is slowly declining. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this week that he does not see a need to switch to the government’s winter “Plan B”, which requires people to wear masks indoors and recommends working from home.
The infection rate in the UK has been higher than that in neighboring countries for several months, and some scientists say this puts the country in a better position now.
Linda Bauld, a professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, said that compared with its European neighbors, the UK has taken longer to deal with the highly contagious delta variant of the virus, “because we have had a high infection rate in the past. The natural immunity among our people may be higher. “The UK is now also introducing booster vaccine doses to everyone 40 years and older.
John Bell, a professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, said that he does not think Britain will face another Christmas lockdown like last year.
“My suggestion is to order that turkey because everything will be fine,” he told Time Radio. However, he added, “If you are planning a ski holiday in Austria, things may not go so smoothly.”
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