Black People are

In 2021, the CDC declared racism as a public health threat, identifying it as one of the fundamental drivers of health inequities. Across America, the black community has the worst health outcomes, with black men having the lowest life expectancy of any demographic group. According to research, the mortality rate of black babies shrunk by between 39% and 58% when they were cared for by black doctors (CNN, 2020). Studies have shown that Black patients have better health outcomes and routinely agree to more—and more invasive— health tests and interventions when seen by Black physicians (haverford, 2021). 

We need our leaders to organize a way to pool our resources to build healthcare facilities in our communities with black healthcare professionals who can provide culturally competent care as soon as possible to help improve healthcare disparities. There is increasing evidence suggesting that when physicians and patients share the same race or ethnicity, it improves the time spent together, medication adherence, shared decision-making, wait times for treatment, cholesterol screening, patient understanding of cancer risk, and patient perceptions of treatment decisions (Michigan Medicine, 2020).

We need a change that is effective now (which includes sending additional funding to our HBCUs) to decrease the continued loss of life due to racism in the healthcare system.