Introduction
One of the core sectors that sustain the economy of a country is the healthcare sector. The sector requires adequate resources in terms of qualified personnel and finance. A key input to health systems, according to Chang et al. (2019) is financial resources. In the United States, the government has invested a lot of resources in ensuring every citizen has access to equitable healthcare services. Studies show that the US is not only the only profit-driven healthcare system but also has the costliest healthcare systems on the planet (Branning & Vater, 216). Government sources indicate that in the year 2018, $3.65 trillion was spent on healthcare by the US citizens. The trend of the level of spending on healthcare in the US indicates that the figures may increase in 2019. It is the primary duty of the government to regulate and ensure equity in the healthcare sector. Health professionals (doctors, nurses) usually take an oath of office that they would treat all the patients equally. Unfortunately, not all patients receive equal treatment. Today, racism has become a disease, so deeply ingrained in our society that it hinders equal access to healthcare services. To end racism in healthcare and create a healthy world, it would be vital first to address the current social injustices and discrimination caused by racism.
Ethical Dimensions of Racism in Healthcare
Racism in healthcare is not a new subject in modern society. The fight against racial segregation in the world has been a long battle that has never won even today. Studies show that racism has eaten deep into the society affecting virtually all forms of intuitions. Medicine has neither been spared.
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To understand the impacts of racism in healthcare and why this is an ethical issue in the medical field., it would be ideal to discuss where it originated and how it has become deeply ingrained in our society. Many definitions have been used to define racism. But according to Durr and Hill (2006), racism is where a certain group of people or individuals develop prejudice and discrimination attitudes toward another group of people. Racists believe in the existence of two broad categories of people; the superior and the inferior categories. Racists believe that they possess outstanding characters and superior abilities that distinguish them from the rest of the groups. So when exactly did racism penetrate in the medical profession? Racial difference in the medical profession was witnessed as early as the eighteenth century. A distinguished medical professor at the University of Pennsylvania by the name Benjamin Rush introduced racial difference. All the United States universities and medical schools later integrated racial difference in their curriculums. According to Professor Benjamin Rush, he viewed black as a form of disability. He urged physicians to learn ways of coming up with a cure. Since then, the subject of racial difference in the United States has become a controversial subject, affecting African Americans and other minority groups residing in the country.
The United States is not the only country in the world where the subject of racial difference is controversial. In European and Asian countries, racism has widely been discussed. But how bad are the effects of racism in other countries compared to the United States? In America, the level of racism is higher compared to other countries. The great Albert Einstein once referred to racism in the United States as the white people's disease (Taylor, 2006). Health professionals must acknowledge that racism exists, and remains to a persistent challenge in the medical profession. Fixico (2019) compares racism to a cancerous disease that persistently grows to weaken the victim's body.
Racism in the medical profession should not be tolerated. The medical code of ethics does not advocate for unfair treatment of patients. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), healthcare is a fundamental human right that ought to be provided fairly to all the citizens. The world has witnessed devastating consequences of racism not only in the healthcare sector but also in all the other domains too. Some of the results include poor patient experiences, poor health outcomes, among others (Stanley et al., 2019). Historical facts about racial assaults, discrimination, and injustices in the medical profession should not be reflected in the modern free world. The mentality of racial superiority should not be tolerated in the twenty-first. Access to health care should be a primary priority for every citizen. Health care professional should also be reminded to maintain good ethics in executing their duties without bias. Studies have shown that physicians and other health care professionals have a big role in the fight against racial discrimination in the medical sector.
Relevance to Health Profession
The race is an English four-letter word whose magnitude has been felt in the world for so many decades. According to Byrd and Clayton (2001), racism is a never-ending problem in the health care sector whose roots have been spreading for more than 2500 years. In the United States, African-Americans have been the targets of racial prejudices. This problem has been in existence for decades after decades. It is this racial subject that led to the championship of equal rights for the blacks in the United States by great minds such as Martin Luther King.
Studies show that during the 19th century, racism in the United States was so badly practiced that blacks were not allowed to participate in national matters such as voting. In the 20th century, however, the trend changed, and they were allowed to vote. The journey to equal rights for African-Americans has been a tough one. Although cases of racial discrimination still exist, they are not as rife as in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 2016, Americans proved the world wrong by electing the first-ever black person as their president. Barack Obama was elected with massive support coming from inside and outside the continent. He garnered more votes to become the first black president giving his opponent with a land-slide gap. Such victory was lauded by experts around the world, who view his victory as a victory for the blacks. The fight to equal rights, equal opportunities, and justice for all has not been that smooth. It has been observed that everywhere in the world where justice has ever been fought for, blood-shedding is a common characteristic. In the mid-20th century, the blacks in the United States stage mass protest ad revolutions that pushed for equal rights, opportunities, and justice for the blacks. Majority of African-Americans were killed during the revolution.
The medical sector has witnessed the ugliest forms of injustices as far as racism is concerned. In the 19th century, famous scientists, philosophers, and professors in the US medical schools contributed vastly in perpetuating racial myths. Unlike the modern-day, where practical lessons in medical schools are conducted using animals as specimens with the aid of technology, in the 19th-century blacks (slaves) were used as specimens Fitzgerald (2016). Due to such violations of human rights, an untold number of victims lost their lives during experiments. It is believed that in the 20th century, health care professionals partnered with rogue government officials to conduct experiments on African-Americans that tested the effectiveness of birth control pills and syphilis drugs.
Despite all these inhumane acts against the people of color in the past, racism remains ingrained in the health care sector, widening disparities in health care. Research has shown that while executing their duties, health professionals harbor racial biases against the minority groups. These practices have been highlighted as the main and common barriers in administering quality health care. Examples of injustices that people of the color encounter while seeking quality health services include; being kept waiting for so many hours, being lectured, being yelled at, and failure to be attended. According to doctor John Hoberman, who is a medical expert, he warns that unless medical schools teach about the history of institutional racism, racism will never end.
The government has failed. The entire system has failed. Race should never be used to determine how peoples' rights. It is a shame that racism is still pervasive in this century, and worst, it has penetrated roots in the health care sector. A culture of discrimination should never be tolerated in this era. For instance, in the United States, the black community is increasingly expanding. These imply that the government must intensify efforts to transform the health care sector to ensure every community feels represented.
Relevant Ethical Analysis
There is no country in the world where racism is acceptable. The United States is the number one country where cases of racism are reported in high numbers. The high number of racist cases in the United States can be attributed to the black slave trade. Slaves were transported from Africa to America to work in European firms. The black community was not given equal opportunity compared to their white counterparts. Over time, the population increased, and the black community realized the need to champion for equal rights and opportunities.
Racism has eaten almost every sector, the health sector being the most affected. According to health experts, minority groups, and other ethnic groups in the United States have poor health outcome. Findings prove that discriminated mothers give birth to babies who have certain health conditions such as poor health, low weight, as well as mental disorders.
Similar results were observed in the United Kingdom (UK) were minority groups such as the black Caribbean, Indians, and Pakistani exist. Health experts warn that babies born with such disorders have their quality of health affected throughout childhood, adolescence, and even adulthood. In New Zealand, racism in health care has caused division among the Pacific people, the Asian and Maori (Stanley et al., 2019). Truly, the world must unite in the fight against racism. In this era, every human being on the planet must enjoy equal rights, opportunities, and fair treatment. Health systems are core elements in every country, and therefore if they are compromised, the results can be dreadful.
Personal Professional Response
I am a campaigner of justice and fairness, and therefore, I don't support racism. I strongly believe that black lives matter. In this era, people ought not to be treated based on their skin color, religion, or political affiliations. There is no apparent difference between killing a person and denying them health care services. I echo doctor John Hoberman's sentiments that racism would only dissipate if medical schools teach the history of institutional racism.
Conclusion
Racism is like cancer, it eats, it spreads, and finally, it kills. That is exactly what is happening in society today. Minority groups and other ethnic groups are denied quality health services. This is a disease that has been ailing the world for so long without a cure. It is high time the world unites to fight racism. People deserve justice, equal opportunities to pursue their dreams. In a society where racism still exists, such opportunities may be rare to find.
References
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Branning, G., & Vater, M. (2016). Healthcare spending: plenty of blame to go around. American health & drug benefits , 9 (8), 445.
Durr, M., & Hill, S. A. (2006). Race, work, and family in the lives of African Americans . Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Taylor, R. (2006). Einstein on race and racism . Rutgers University Press.
Fixico, D. L. (2019). Re-Imagining Race and Ethnicity in the American West in the Twenty-First Century. The Western Historical Quarterly , 50 (1), 1-15.
Stanley, J., Harris, R., Cormack, D., Waa, A., & Edwards, R. (2019). The impact of racism on the future health of adults: protocol for a prospective cohort study. BMC public health , 19 (1), 346.
Byrd, W. M., & Clayton, L. A. (2001). Race, medicine, and health care in the United States: a historical survey. Journal of the National Medical Association , 93 (3 Suppl), 11S.
Fitzgerald, C. (2016). African American Slave Medicine of the 19th Century. Undergraduate Review , 12 (1), 44-50.
