COVID-19: A case for the collection of race data in Canada and abroad

Abstract

Racialized populations have consistently been shown to have poorer health outcomes worldwide. This pattern has become even more prominent in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In countries where race disaggregated data are routinely collected, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, preliminary reports have identified that racialized populations are at a heightened risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality. Similar patterns are emerging in Canada but rely on proxy measures such as neighbourhood diversity to account for race, in the absence of person-level data. It follows that the collection of race disaggregated data in Canada is a crucial element in identifying individuals at risk of poorer COVID-19 outcomes and developing targeted public health interventions to mitigate risk among Canada’s racialized populations. Given this continuing gap, advocating for timely access to this data is of great importance owing to the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted amongst racialized populations in Canada and worldwide.

“I die silently inside”. Qualitative findings from a study of people living with HIV who migrate to and settle in Canada

“…For example, there are inequities in housing, income, employment, and education among racialized populations in Canada ( Nestel, 2012 ; Public Health Agency of Canada, 2020 ). Systemic racism rooted in public policies, practices, and institutions ( Thompson et al., 2021 ) contributes to such inequities. Thus, the layered effect of living with HIV, legal and/or immigration status, disparities in the social determinants of health among racialized immigrants living with HIV provides impetus for society to re-think public policies that promote discrimination, stigma, racism, and injustices towards racialized immigrants.…”

Extreme Heat and Pregnancy Outcomes: A Scoping Review of the Epidemiological Evidence

“…Recognizing that race is a social construct, investigation of adverse pregnancy outcomes across subpopulations can lead to identification of underlying systemic inequities and discrimination, which influence maternal comorbidities, environmental exposures and healthcare access [10,105,106]. Less than half of the reviewed studies reported race/ethnicity of pregnant people, with almost all of these studies (32/35) conducted in Australia, Europe or the United States.…”

“…Less than half of the reviewed studies reported race/ethnicity of pregnant people, with almost all of these studies (32/35) conducted in Australia, Europe or the United States. National records of race/ethnicity healthcare and birth registry data are not universal-such that these data may not be available for collection and analysis [106]. Race/ethnicity data was often aggregated into a priori census categories [28,73,90], emphasized Indigenous status [56,63] or used immigration status as a binary, proxy category [20,39].…”

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Marginalized Populations in the U.S. and Canada: Protocol for a Scoping Review

“…COVID-4 19, much like HIV before it-it's 'curve flattened' except for those at the most marginalized sociodemographic intersections-has in fact highlighted the fault lines of marginalization that produce rampant health disparities. In the U.S. and Canada, COVID-19 exerts a disproportionate impact on Black/African American, Latinx, indigenous [15][16][17][18][19][20][21], and sexual and gender minority [22][23][24] communities, immigrants and refugees [25,26], incarcerated people, and people with disabilities [27]. These populations experience elevated rates of physical and mental health conditions and comorbidities owing to ongoing adverse social determinants of health (SDOH) [28]: structural inequalities, such as unstable housing and employment, residential segregation, lack of access to affordable healthcare, barriers to mobility, and systemic racism, homophobia, and transphobia.…”