Genetics and Health

Racial Disparities in Health Care

by Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD on July 22nd, 2005

Roaming around the blogosphere, I’ve been (perhaps naively) surprised to find that there are conservative/right wing and liberal/left wing opinions on highly controversial genetics topics such as race. The conservative side accuses the liberal side of ignoring genetic differences between racial groups, much to the detriment of minority health. The liberal side, of course, relies on the statistic that genetic differences between groups are less than the differences between individuals. Whichever side you’re on, one thing is clear - the quality and effectiveness of health care varies depending on your race. (RedNova, July 22, 2005)

A recent Applied Research Center publication, Closing the Gap: Solutions to Race-Based Health Disparities, claims that whites and minorities with the same socioeconomic background are still treated differently.

“The health care system as a whole provides vastly unequal access and treatment based on race, language and ethnicity,” said Will Pittz, an organizer at the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations and lead author of the report. “Racism within the health system is literally making people of color sick.”

The report also emphasizes that racial disparities in health care are due not to genetic differences, but to sociopolitical and psychological factors.

Logically, I understand that people’s physical appearance, whether it be skin color or dress, affects others’ perception of them. It’s part of human nature to want to categorize everything so that we can make sense of the world. But how do we stop ourselves from stereotyping people to the extent that it hurts them physically and emotionally?

Closing the Gap recommends:

• Eliminating disparities in access to health insurance;
• Developing health care institutions that are welcoming and respectful to people of different races and ethnicities;
• Tracking racial disparities in health care provision;
• Providing medical interpretation services for all clinical encounters;
• And improving access to traditional and non-Western treatments.

We need to be constantly vigilant against our natural tendencies by educating ourselves and being open to new ideas. Both the conservative and liberal sides of the genetics of race debate need to remember that the overarching goal is the improvement of public health.

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