Covid-19 and BAME Communities – Debate
in the House of Commons
Dr. Mozammel Haque
There
was debate and discussion in the House of Commons on the Public Health England
(PHE) Report on 2nd of June 2020. Lots of contributions across the
party lines took place.
Disproportionate deaths from
BAME Due to
Covid-19
Early
April 2020 research suggested that people from BAME communities are dying
disproportionately due to coronavirus. First 10 doctors in the UK named as
having died from the virus were all BAME, reported in The Guardian on 10 April
2020. It has also mentioned, “These doctors have ancestry in regions including
Asia, Middle East and Africa. Even allowing for the overrepresentation of BAME
staff in the NHS – they comprise 44% of medical staff compared with 14% of the
population of England and Wales – the fact that they were all from ethnic
minorities was “extremely disturbing and worrying,” the BMA Chair said.”
“At
face value, it seems hard to see how this can be random – to have the first 10
doctors of all being of BAME background, “ Dr. Chaand Nagpaul said: “Not only
that, we also know that in terms of the BAME population, they make up about a
third of those in intensive care. There is a disproportionate percentage of BAME
people getting ill.”
It
is also reported, “As well as the 10 doctors, three out of six nurses named as
having died have also been BAME as was a hospital pharmacist and at least one
healthcare assistant. The overall death figures in the UK have not been broken
down by ethnicity but early research published this week showed that 35% of
almost 2,000 patients in intensive care units were non-white.
Nagpaul
added, “Previous inequalities will be greater at a time of crisis. This
(Coronavirus ) may be bringing into focus historic inequalities facing BAME
communities.”
A
disproportionate number of BAME healthcare professionals doctors, have been
dying from coronavirus, reported in the Independent on 28 April, 2020.
It also mentioned, “A BAME medical family have become increasingly concerned
that 95 per cent of doctors who have contracted and sadly died from Coronavirus
have been of a BAME background.”
Independent
also mentioned, “The BMA has called for urgent government action to
formally investigate what the link could be.”
Nearly
three-quarters of all NHS and social care staff who have died with coronavirus
are from a BAME backgrounds, SKY News analysis has found. It also
mentioned, “Official figures show that BAME people make up 44% of NHS medical
staff. However, Sky news found that 72% of all health and social care staff who
have died with covid-19 are black, Asian and minority ethnic.”
The
Guardian editorially observed: “A universal
experience is highlighting the sharp divides in our society. Few are as stark
and shocking as those revealed by Thursday’s news that black people in England
and Wales are more
than four times as likely to die from
Covid-19 as white people. Bangladeshi and Pakistani people were about three and
a half times more likely, and those of Indian origin two and a half times as
likely, the Office for National Statistics reported.”
Copyright @ The Guardian.com
The editorial continued, “The disproportionately high toll of BAME people was already evident, notably among medical staff: a review of just over a hundred NHS staff who died found that almost two-thirds were black or Asian, though those groups account for less than one in seven workers in the health service. It is all the more striking, given that age is one of the biggest risk factors and the over-65s comprise only one in 20 of the BAME population, compared with almost one in five of the white population.”
The
editorial also commented, “The reasons are complex, interlocking and
not yet fully understood. Geography has doubtless played its part; urban
dwellers have been worse hit. The prevalence of underlying conditions such as
diabetes vary markedly between communities. But health is intimately tied to
economic wellbeing. It cannot be divorced from other considerations. We know
that, in general, the poor die younger. Black, Bangladeshi and Pakistani
populations face higher levels of unemployment and child poverty than white
groups, and are much more likely to live in overcrowded conditions.” (The
Guardian View on BAME death rates: Inequality and Injustice, editorial, 7
May, 2020)
Appointment:
Investigation Commission
Dr.
Habib Naqvi, the NHS Director for workforce race and equality said, “The fact
that a high number of black and minority ethnic staff are dying from this
pandemic is a worrying for us.”
“Almost
three-quarters of the 51 healthcare workers whose deaths have been announced
are also from BAME backgrounds, BBC analysis shows.
More
than 70 public figures are calling for a full independent public enquiry into
deaths from Covid-19 among people from ethnic minority backgrounds. They have
signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for more transparency.
The
head of the British Medical Association has called on the government to
urgently investigate if and why black Asian and minority ethnic people are more
vulnerable to Covid-19 after the first
10 doctors in the UK named as having died from the virus were all BAME.
Dawning Street has commissioned an investigation into the issue. Downing Street confirmed the NHS and Public Health England will lead the review of evidence concerning the impact of black, Asian and minority ethnic BAME backgrounds. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said, “There does appear to be a disproportionate impact of the virus on BAME communities.”
PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND REPORT
On 2nd
of June, 2020 the debate and discussion took place in the House of Commons. A
Public Health England Report has found that people from black, Asian and ethnic
groups are up to twice as likely to die with Covid-19 than those from White
British backgrounds. A 89-page report, which was published on June 2, confirmed
that the highest diagnosis rates of Covid-19 were in people of black ethnic
groups (486 females and 649 males per 100,000 population), reported in Daily
Telegraph.
Debate on the Public Health England
Report In the House of Commons
Stating
about the Report, the Secretary of State Mr. Matt Hancook said, “Today, I can announce that Public Health England has
completed work into disparities in the risks and outcomes of covid-19, and we
have published its findings. PHE has found the following. First, as we are all
aware, age is the biggest risk factor. Among those diagnosed with covid-19,
people who are 80 or older are 70 times more likely to die than those under 40.
Being male is also a significant risk factor. Working-age men are twice as
likely to die as working-age women. Occupation is a risk factor, with
professions that involve dealing with the public in an enclosed space, such as
taxi driving, at higher risk. Importantly, the data show that people working in
hospitals are not more likely to catch or die from covid-19.”
The Health Secretary also mentioned, “This work underlines
that being black or from a minority ethnic background is a major risk factor.
That racial disparity holds even after accounting for the effects of age,
deprivation, region and sex. The PHE ethnicity analysis did not adjust for
factors such as comorbidities and obesity, so there is much more work to do to
understand the key drivers of these disparities, the relationships between the
different risk factors and what we can do to close the gap.”
The Health Secretary said, “I want to thank Public Health
England for this work. I am determined that we continue to develop our
understanding and shape our response. I am pleased to announce that my right
hon. Friend the Equalities Minister will be leading on this work and taking it
forward, working with PHE and others to further understand the impacts.”
Jonathan Ashworth Shadow Health Secretary said, “With
respect to the PHE’s findings, which I am pleased to see published today, we
have always known that there is a social gradient in health. The poorest and
most deprived have inequality in access to healthcare and inequality in health outcomes.
What the Secretary of State has confirmed today is that covid thrives on
inequalities. Yes, indeed, black lives matter, but it is surely a call to
action that black, Asian and minority ethnic people are more likely to die from
covid and more likely to be admitted to intensive care with covid. He has seen
the findings. I note that the Equalities Minister is taking work forward, but
what action will be taken to minimise risk for black, Asian and minority ethnic
people?”
Matt Hancock, Health Secretary replied, “Let me answer the
hon. Gentleman’s questions specifically. He asks about the inequalities in health
outcomes. He is quite right to address that subject. It was important before we
went into the coronavirus crisis, and it is even more important now. Black
lives matter, as do those of the poorest areas of our country, which have the
worst health outcomes. We need to ensure that all these considerations are
taken into account and that action is taken to level up the health outcomes of
people across this country, because there is no more important levelling up
than the levelling up of a person’s life expectancy and the quality of health
with which they live that life.”
Copyright @The Telegraph
Liberal Democrats MP Munira Wilson said, “In view of the
Secretary of State’s statement confirming PHE’s findings that being black or
minority ethnic is a high-risk factor, what guidance is he providing to the NHS
and social care sectors on the rostering of BAME staff in high-risk covid
areas? Will his Department be investigating whistleblower claims that BAME
locums were disproportionately placed on the rota at Weston General Hospital,
which has recently experienced a major outbreak?”
Health Secretary replied, “The hon. Lady is right to raise
the case of Weston hospital. We have been working hard to ensure that the local
outbreak is brought under control, and we are making progress. She is also
right, of course, to raise the PHE report that we published today.”
He also added, “The critical next step is to ensure that we
understand the drivers of the disparities that are seen in the data and, in
particular, that we address the question of the impact, taking into account
co-morbidities has such as obesity and the impact of occupation, which are not
taken into account in the PHE work thus far. That is the work that the Minister
for Women and Equalities, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West
Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), will be taking forward.”
Labour Party MP from Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy said, “I
very much welcome what the Secretary of State has said about the PHE report and
the need to get to the bottom of why these racial disparities seem to be a
thing, but it is not enough to work out after the event why there have been so
many more deaths among the BAME community. What is he doing to support the
public health function in local authorities so that they can work with local
community groups to try to identify people who are more likely to be at risk,
to prevent the illnesses and deaths from occurring in the first place?”
The Health Secretary Replied, “We have put extra funding
into those functions, obviously, because this is a significant crisis that
demands massively more of our local public health capabilities in councils and
in the devolved Administrations as they deliver local public health services on
the ground. It is absolutely critical to look at these risks, but we have to
look at them in the round. We have to look at all the different risks. For
instance, there is growing evidence of the impact of obesity on the
morbidity—that is, the impact of covid—and on people’s chances of dying, and
that has to be taken into account as well.”
Labour Party MP from Hamstead and Kilburn, Tulip Siddiq
said, “In the London Borough of Brent, which covers part of my constituency,
two thirds of communities are from a BAME background, so it comes as no surprise
that some areas in Brent have the third highest rate of covid-related deaths in
the whole of London. The Secretary of State has said that he recognises the
disproportionate impact that covid-19 has on BAME communities, and he has said
that black lives matter, but BAME communities are not interested in slogans or
empty rhetoric from us politicians; BAME communities want to know what concrete
and practical steps the Secretary of State is taking right now to ensure that
BAME communities are protected when the lockdown is eased, so that the lives of
no more people from my communities are lost.”
The Health Secretary Matt Hancock MP replied, “The hon.
Lady is quite right to raise this issue and to discuss it in the way she does.
Working with the council in Brent, where this disease had one of the highest
impacts at the start, we have managed to bring the incidence of disease right
down. For instance, ensuring the protection of those living in care homes in
Brent has led to the outbreak there coming right under control. Brent is a very
good example of where, when we saw a focused outbreak at the start, we put
extra resources in; we have put support into Brent Council, and together we
have managed to get this disease under control.”
Conservative Party MP from Chipping Barnet, Theresa
Villiers said, “It is deeply distressing to see the toll that the disease has
taken on people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. It is also worrying
that so many transport workers have fallen foul of the disease. In London, many
of them come from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. Will my right hon.
Friend urgently engage with transport companies and authorities across the
country to keep our transport workers safe, especially those from BAME
communities?”
The Health Secretary replied, “That is an incredibly important
point, because there has been a disproportionate impact on transport workers,
particularly those who, by the nature of their work, have to be in close
contact with others, for example taxi drivers. That factor was not taken into
account in the Public Health England analysis. It is exactly what we mean when
we say that we must understand the different causes of the disparities in the
data on the impacts according to people’s ethnic background. Disentangling how
much is due to occupation and how much is due to other factors is an important
part of the analysis that we need to undertake to be able to take action such
as protecting those who work in the transport sector.”
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