As the new financial year begins in April and there is a renewed focus on ensuring financial efficiencies, AACE would like to shine the anti-racist spotlight on a report published by the Race and Health Observatory into the cost of racism.
Tasnim Ali, Chair, National Ambulance BME Forum said;
We welcome this report as it describes the impact on people’s health due to racism in a very comprehensive manner – it’s like the funnel of tornado, your genetics impact your health, your illnesses impact on your ability to work, low income impacts on your health, prejudice stops you from getting some roles, you are then deprived of the correct level of care needed – indeed the whirlwind of racism is multifaceted and so deep rooted.
It’s unpacking all this and finding a solution that’s the key. Small steps in the right direction.
Ruth Crabtree, National Lead for Public Heath, Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, added;
We know that Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities are more likely to die in childbirth than White British women, that Black men are more likely than White men to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and that Black and Asian communities routinely report worse experiences of accessing health care.
Our moral obligation to tackle these inequalities is clear but it is important to remember that failing to tackle racism also has an immense economic cost.
