The unequal health impact of Covid-19 on BAME Groups in the UK

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been condemned as ‘the worst challenge for a century for international health and financial systems’ (Singer, 2020). The impact of Coronavirus disease worldwide has brought mainstream attention to the underlying issue of health inequality. Research has shown that Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups in the UK have been impacted the hardest by COVID-19, suffering higher morbidity and mortality rates as well as increased financial hardship. Such disparity, as a result of racial inequality, is heavily interlinked with lower socioeconomic status, which is more common among BAME communities in the UK. Through the lens of COVID-19, socioeconomic and ethnic health disparity has been magnified to a greater audience than ever before. This is a significant opportunity for public health researchers and proponents to highlight the need for prioritizing health equity in all areas of policy and intervention. The aim of this research is to understand the ethnic disparity within COVID-19 health outcomes in the UK from a public health perspective and provide a grounding of data within policy and intervention strategy.