Damning probe uncovers ethnic inequalities in UK health care system

By Muhammad Mussa

LONDON (AA) – An investigation has revealed “disturbing” racial divides in the UK’s health care system, with Black and Asian people waiting longer for diagnosis than white people.

The investigation was conducted by the University of Exeter and the Guardian newspaper and analyzed cancer cases over a period of 10 years. The review discovered that in six of seven cancers studied, ethnic minority patients on average waited longer than white patients.

The median time for white patients with first-time symptoms of cancer receiving a diagnosis was 55 days after meeting with a general practitioner. For Black people, however, it was 60 days (9% longer), and for Asian people, it was 61 days (11% longer).

Between 2006 and 2016, the University of Exeter studied 126,000 cancer cases which looked at four of the most common cancer diagnoses: lung, breast, prostate and colorectal. The three most common cancers among ethnic minorities in the UK were also studied: esophagogastric, myeloma and ovarian.

As well as revealing the ethnic inequalities that exist within the National Health Service (NHS) and the wider health care sector in England, the findings of the study help explain why ethnic minorities have poorer outcomes in their treatments compared to white people.

“These findings are deeply worrying, with potential life-altering consequences for the health of Black and Asian people,” said Jabeer Butt, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, as quoted in the Guardian.

Butt said the differences between ethnic minorities and white people in the health care system are “disturbing” but “sadly not surprising.”

“We urgently need to address these underlying factors holding Black and Asian patients back from getting a fair chance when it comes to fighting cancer,” he added.

Delays in diagnosing patients with cancer lessen the options for treatment, and late treatment may prove to be less effective compared to early treatment, which could provide patients a better chance at beating the illness.

There are differences in wait times for specific cancers. The median wait time for white people to get a diagnosis for esophagogastric cancer, which affects the stomach, is 53 days, while for Asian people it is 100 days, a wait time six weeks longer than for white people.

The median wait time for white people to get a diagnosis for myeloma, a cancer that affects the blood’s plasma cells, is 93 days, while for Black people, it is 127 days.

“The longer it takes to be diagnosed, the more likely patients are to suffer avoidable yet irreversible, lifelong complications like broken bones and spines. This is absolutely unacceptable. Everyone deserves the same opportunity to get a timely diagnosis and live well for as long as possible,” said Dr. Sophie Castell, chief executive of blood cancer charity Myeloma UK.

The investigation reveals major health disparities that exists between white people and ethnic minorities in England and across the UK and has called on the government and the NHS to effectively tackle these racial divides that threaten the health and livelihoods of many UK citizens.