Race Incident

Race Incident

Discrimination in the society is considered to be unjust. At some cases it may pose threat to the health of those discriminated. The worst forms may be manifested through hate crimes while other forms of discrimination may also be harmful when access to needed human services such as health care is limited and denied due to race. Although there have been progress over the issue of discrimination, differential treatments has continued to be experienced by blacks.

Facts about the Race Incident

In 2002, the Institute of Medicine has issued an alarming report in the American health care. It indicated the racial differences in the receipt of health care which are not solely explained by racial variations in insurance coverage, income or access to health care. With the same income and insurance, minorities are found to receive fewer tests and specialty procedures and lower quality of care for major diseases such as heart disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS. The IOM reported that discrimination by medical providers explain the racial disparities in health care.

Review of the Incident

            In Tennessee, the National Center for Health Statistics suggest that residence in the South and being black have twofold influence  on the racial disparities experienced by blacks. First, they experience higher death rates from major diseases than the death rates experienced by blacks nationally. Second, blacks experience higher death rates than whites in Tennessee.

Black women in are almost twelve times more likely than white women to die from HIV. They are four times more likely to die of hypertensive heart disease. Black women also have higher death rates from diabetes, assaults, cervical cancer and complications from medical and surgical care. The same disparity is found on black men. Deaths from HIV are higher as compared to white men, with black men eight times more likely to die from the disease. Deaths due to assaults are six times higher for black men. In terms of major diseases such as heart disease and hypertension, black men are found to be four times more likely to die as compared to white men. Asthma deaths are also four times higher than for white men in Tennessee and diabetes, prostate cancer and anemia deaths are about tow and half times higher.

            The striking race differences in causes of death indicate the racial differences in the life expectancy in Tennessee. This data suggest that there is a cost of color. The cost is prevailing and at some cases increasing the deaths among people of color. Because of this growing disparity, health policy makers in Tennessee developed policies to eliminate health disparities. A health care financing strategy has been introduced to improve the access to health care services especially among low income families. Yet, it did little in improving the health of Tennessee residents, nor mitigated the racial disparities in health.

            The IOM report (2002) recommended the consistency and equity in medical treatment be promoted through (1) using evidenced-based medical guidelines in treatment (2) ethnically diverse insurance pools where particular ethnic groups are not highly concentrated in a particular health contract.

            Broader economic, social and political changes are suggested to be made. Social policy suggests that importance of discrimination and segregation on health since past and present experiences of discrimination impact current health. Federal state, and local policies that allow discrimination and segregation constrained the ability of African American generations to accumulate financial assets and engage in opportunities to improve their health status. Political changes also provide a solution. Many of the communities in the South are racially segregated which impacts their access to education and employment opportunities. As a result, racial differences in the socio economic status explain the differences in the health. It impacts life expectancy and there are evidences that these persist among generations.

The elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in the health care is crucial because the disparities are unacceptable. The growing body of evidence documenting differential medical treatment attributed to racial discrimination is neither isolated nor uncommon. Then potentially serious harm that discrimination can bring to the community of Tennessee is a serious problem.  There is a wide variety of potions which can be done to eliminate such practices. This may involve the training of the medical health providers and staff to ensure cultural competency and equality. Intuitional polices will also help to enforce non discriminatory workplace and promote the awareness among the population regarding their rights for equitable health care. Lastly, continued monitoring can be implemented to ensure that there is a progress towards the elimination of discriminatory practices among patients.

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