People of African Descent of the Americas, Racial Discrimination, and Quality of the Health Services

Sandra del Pino, Juan Gómez-Salgado, José Andrés Domínguez-Gómez and Carlos Ruiz-Frutos
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Sandra del Pino: Office of Equity, Gender and Cultural Diversity, Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, Washington, DC 20037, USA
Juan Gómez-Salgado: Department of Sociology, Social Work and Public Health, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain
José Andrés Domínguez-Gómez: Department of Sociology, Social Work and Public Health, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain
Carlos Ruiz-Frutos: Department of Sociology, Social Work and Public Health, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: The WHO urges countries to consider the link between racial discrimination and health and, in particular, the need for further research to study the links between health outcomes and racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance. This article is carried out within the framework of approximation work towards health-related ethnic inequalities among the population of African descent of the Americas. A qualitative methodology was used to conduct 20 in-depth interviews with a group of key informants composed of leaders of African descent, officials from the ministries of health, international health agencies, and international technicians specialised in African descent health and interculturality from six different countries. The extracted data were categorised and encoded, generating quotations and concept maps with Atlas.ti v.8.2. The concurrency coefficients made it possible to link the codes of each subcategory with the central analytical category. The racial discrimination experienced by people of African descent and the quality of health services received poses a problem. Discrimination is faced in all countries, affecting access to services and the quality of health care, and greater discrimination against women is also detected. This shows the need for an activistpolicy and for the inclusion of specific variables in surveys, censuses, and records in order that they may be researched. Claims are made about the complementary role that traditional medicine may play and the fact that the intercultural approach may be a useful strategy for addressing inequalities. The interviewees agree with the reference theory on the existence of racial discrimination and segregation regarding the African descent population of the Americas and how this translates into ethnic inequities in the field of health. Proposals have been put forward both on how to deepen research and how to contribute to the reduction of ethnic inequalities in health issues.

Keywords: public policy; universal access to health; universal health coverage; accessibility to health services; quality of health services; racism; ethnic inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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