Black Americans say US health-care system infected with racism: Poll

Black Americans say the US
health care system is infected by the same racial injustice that they encounter
in American society, according to a new poll.
A new survey by The Undefeated and the Kaiser
Family Foundation (KFF) found that 7 in 10 African Americans believe that
blacks are treated unfairly when they seek medical care.
It’s a feeling born of unequal history and
intensified by the coronavirus pandemic, which is disproportionately affecting
African Americans, both physically and economically.
The poll, which included interviews with 777
African Americans, is the most comprehensive survey of black attitudes and
experiences with health care since the start of the pandemic.
The poll found that about four out of 10
Black adults knew someone who has died from the coronavirus, almost double the
rate for white people.
The survey also shows that African Americans are
doubtful about the promise of a coronavirus vaccine that public health
officials hope to begin deploying in the coming months.
Public health experts say the suspicions
around a vaccine is due to the discrimination many African Americans endure,
not only as they attempt to access health care, but also as they go about their
daily lives.
“We have a centurieslong legacy in this
country of basically Black people, in particular, and other people of color as
well, being treated poorly,” said Dr. Lisa A. Cooper, an internist who directs
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity. “So why should Black people trust
any institution? It has gone on for so long.”
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