Racism in Global Health

In her report to the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Special Rapporteur on right to health proclaimed, that “The right to health cannot be realized in a racist world.” (UNGA, 2021) Recent evidence points to biases and abuse faced by minoritized people across the globe and highlights diverse pathways through which discrimination harms health, including directly impacting the body via stress responses, profoundly shaping living environments, and limiting individuals’ opportunities to improve health. (Lancet, 2022)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that across the globe, indigenous peoples as well as people of African descent, Roma and other ethnic minorities experience stigma, racism, and racial discrimination. This situation according to WHO often increases their exposure and vulnerability to risk factors and reduces their access to quality health services. The result is that these populations often experience poorer health outcomes. The WHO also highlights that this has been evidenced and exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which some of the starkest inequities have emerged among populations experiencing racial discrimination.

Furthermore, evidence points to intersectional impacts racism has when combined with other factors such as socio-economic status, gender inequalities, and religious discrimination both in terms of ability of individuals to access health facilities, goods, and services but also ultimately health outcomes. (WHO, 2022) Repeat calls are therefore made to recognize racism and xenophobia as fundamental determinants of health and to implement measures that focus on addressing the structural causes, however with limited success.