A brief summary and reflection of the Azusa Pacific University Panel Seminar entitled “Practices, Disparities, and Policies in Healthcare” discusses how COVID has shed bright light on healthcare disparity in the US.
1 Like
I was reading in the NY Times how the Navajo Nation, although initially hit hard by Covid, is sending aid to India, which is really struggling right now.
2 Likes
the author does a good job of opening the conversation. There are many ways disparity manifests itself. with Covid vaccinations, those who had internet access and were computer literate had access fairly early to the vaccine. Those either did not know how to sign up or lacked the resources, did not. In our community, the local big health clinic administered most of the shots, pulling the allotted vaccine away from community led volunteers who may have done a better job of reaching the poor, the aged, the home bound, and minority groups. As the vaccine becomes more available, it looks like community led vaccine clinics will get a chance at the supply, so that is good, but late.
The church as part of the community could do a better job in reaching those resistant or lacking access to established medical clinics, providing help with sign-up, transportation, and understanding of the benefits. The political divide and the hesitancy present in evangelical circles no doubt led to needless suffering and death.
3 Likes
Great suggestions!
interesting to see that in the article “Racial disparities in revascularization rates among patients with similar insurance coverage” they tried to adjust for:
Black AMI patients were younger and significantly more likely to be women as compared to whites and Hispanics for each insurance cohort (Table 1). In addition, blacks and Hispanics were significantly more likely to be admitted from the emergency department, as compared to whites, and less likely to be admitted after a transfer from another acute care hospital in each of the 3 insurance cohorts. Blacks and Hispanics admitted with AMI had more diabetes and more renal failure and were also significantly less likely to have received a prior revascularization (PCI or CABG) procedure. Black–White Differences in Severity of Coronary Artery Disease Among Individuals with Acute Coronary Syndromes
Now when it comes to heart disease God is truly racist as acording to
“Black–White Differences in Severity of Coronary Artery Disease Among Individuals with Acute Coronary Syndromes” :
Black veterans who present with acute coronary insufficiency are less likely than whites to have significant coronary obstruction. Current understanding of coronary disease does not provide an explanation for these differences.
Do we expect the use of revascularisation procedures in the absence of coronary obstructions just because the insurance pays for it or it is fun for the doctor or good to be seen to do something?
But then suggesting that there are biological differences between people based on gender or race is clearly sexist and racist as after all these things are all social constructs. It is one thing to understand statistics and another one to understand science, let alone to accept that there is logic in biology. Wonder why God was so unfair to give people different redox status. That is blatant discrimination.