Op Ed Editorial

HARLEM COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS

Opinion: To Save Black Lives, We Need More Black Doctors

By Michael R. Bloomberg, Wayne A. I. Frederick, David M. Carlisle, Valerie Montgomery Rice and James Hildreth

The Black communi-- including patient trust, ty has suffered the physician engagement, and highest death rates from Covid-19, and the numbers are staggering. Black people are nearly three times more likely than White people to contract the virus, and twice as likely to die from it, according to a report from the National Urban League.

There are many factors that contribute to these disparities, including the fact that Black people are disproportionately represented in essential jobs that cannot be performed at home, and they are more likely to live cultural awareness -- Black in housing with a highnumpatients overall have better ber of occupants. outcomes when they are

Lack ofaccess to quality treated by Black doctors. A and affordable health careis wealth of data supports this, also an important factor -- including a recent study and one facet of the issue that found Black newborns is glaring but has gotten treated by Black physicians very little attention: There had higher rates of survival. aretoo few Black doctors. Black doctors are also

Black newborns more more likely to practice in likely to die when looked communities where the lack after by White doctors of access to quality care --

For a number of reasons including preventative care

-- is most acute. Better care leads to better health and fewer medical bills, which

leads to more economic opportunity and stronger finances -- because there is a directcorrelation between health and wealth.

In other words: If we had more Black doctors, we would save more Black lives -- and also make progress in closing the racial wealth gap.

Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, was mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013. Dr. Wayne A. I. Fred

erick is President of Howard University. Dr. David M. Carlisle is President and CEO of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice is President and Dean of Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. James Hildreth is President and CEO of Meharry Medical College. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the authors

Vol. 25, No 37 September 10, 2020

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