Medicine is Still Against Black People

Abstract

Funded by the British Academy, this report is part of a research project entitled "Mapping and visualising intersections of social inequalities, community mistrust, and vaccine hesitancy in online and physical spaces in the UK and US". The report investigates social, cultural, and political factors underlying vaccine hesitant beliefs and ideas amongst minoritised communities in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (US). The data is collected through interviews and focus groups with vaccine-hesitant individuals within various religiously, ethnically, and racially minoritised communities, interviews with medical practitioners, and through thematic analysis of vaccine communication in Twitter and Telegram during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on our findings (see Figure I), we suggest five strategic goals for policymakers to pursue:Acknowledge the bias and discrimination within healthcare institutions and biomedical models of health: Instead of a one size fits all approach, policies and decisions must be made by acknowledging social injustices as well as the historic and ongoing medical mistreatment of minoritised communities. Any possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine on minoritised communities need to be investigated and shared with the public. Official messages should also acknowledge past and ongoing injustices and racism and assure the public that every precaution is taken to avoid any repetition of the past. Importantly, equipping medical practitioners with knowledge of systemic medical racism and minoritised communities' lived experiences through formal training will contribute to building trust. Prioritise building strong relationships between minoritised communities and healthcare institutions:To build trust and disrupt unequal relationships that many of our participants described as characterising their interactions with healthcare practitioners, we propose outreach initiatives such as open forums which take place within communities. Where possible, these community outreach projects should include trusted members of communities, including religious leaders, and medical experts.Acknowledge the agency and moral concerns of patients: Governments and healthcare institutions in the US and UK should consider approaching minoritised communities by acknowledging their agency and moral concerns around the COVID-19 vaccine such as concerns for perceived harm of vaccine, favouring one's ingroup, or being fair to some communities only.Lack of tailor-made guidelines for working with minoritised communities, and unawareness of historic and contemporary medical racism impacts abilities to build e ective relationships."There does need to be better sta education as to why people distrust the health care system and which communities we should expect it from and really are there certain big cases that have caused that distrust."