I’m starting to focus in a lot on health and healthcare disparities – especially as relates to race and socioeconomic “status”.
If you’ve ever heard someone say that racism is institutionalized, it’s this type of story to which they are referring. Racism is present in healthcare, finance, manfacturing, shipping, education, media and, of course, pizza delivery.
So, I read this press release issued by the University of South Florida Health and was absolutely stunned. Why I’m always shocked at the at the latest evidence of blatent racism in action, I don’t know.
The press release is about the rate at which Black people are hospitalized for strokes in the South Florida area – an area that I would like to live in full-time one day.
We’ve all read the reports about how Blacks have higher hospital mortality rates, how our women are more likely to be given hysterectomies and our men have high rates of everything including “driving-while-Black”-emia and “getting-shot-while-unarmed”-itis.
However, this is about Black young adults.
“Our study shows this black-white disparity hasn’t improved. In fact, it’s clear that the gap emerges even at relatively young ages – among adults hospitalized for strokes in their 20s and 30s – and widens with increasing age,” Dr. Pathak said.
How can this be?
“When people stop taking their blood pressure pills and other medications because they can no longer afford it, they have strokes and heart attacks,” he said.
And, guess who’s most likely NOT to be able to afford it?
That’s real talk all day.
