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The Inquiry: Why are so many ethnic minorities dying in the UK and US?

Why are so many ethnic minorities dying in the UK and US?

07/05/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - The Inquiry, Why are so many ethnic minorities dying in the UK and US?

Data in both the UK and US suggests they may be at greater risk of catching Covid-19

Data from the UK shows a disproportionate number of Covid-19 deaths are among Black and ethnic minority groups. In the US data is showing a similar story. So what’s going on?

In news reports and newspapers, pictures of British healthcare workers who have lost their lives to Covid-19 sit side by side.

And if you look at those faces one thing stands out clearly. Of the 119 cases of NHS deaths more than two thirds are black or an ethnic minority - yet they only make up 20% of the workforce. Figures from the National Health Service in England show a disproportionate number of Covid-19 deaths are amongst these groups. And it’s not just in the UK. 

In the United States on available data – it’s a similar story with African Americans accounting for many more deaths in a community that make up 13% of the population. 

So what’s going on?

Kavita Puri speaks with:
Dr Kamlesh Khunti, Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester
Professor Kathy Rowan, Director of the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre
Dr Consuelo Wilkins, Vice President for Health Equity at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Prof John Watkins, Professor Epidemiology, Cardiff University/Public Health Wales

(Ambulance workers transport patients to St Thomas' Hospital in Westminster, London, UK. Photo credit: Ollie Millington/Getty Images)

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