Webinar: COVID-19’s impact on BAME and African Diaspora communities: Why is it so disproportionate?
Location:
Zoom
Admission:
Free (donations to RAS gratefully received)
Missed it? You can still watch the Facebook livestream.
The coronavirus pandemic is having a significant and disproportionate impact on the African Diaspora and other BAME communities in the UK. This has been most recently evidenced by the Public Health England inquiry into this issue.
The PHE data is in line with previous studies including by Office of National Statistics, which found that African diaspora communities endure mortality rates four times higher than the national average and earlier reports that BAME health professionals face mortality rates seven times higher than the national average. The PHE report has had a mixed reception with a common criticism that it does not adequately explore socio-economic factors and structural racism contributing to such disproportionate impacts.
This webinar of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Africa, together with the Royal African Society and AFFORD seeks to discuss with UK parliamentarians the impacts of the pandemic of the African diaspora and to explore the factors underpinning the health and social inequalities evidenced and how they can be addressed.
The intention is to gather information from the webinar to feed into the various ongoing inquiries examining the pandemic’s impact on BAME communities and BAME health and social care workers in particular.
The format of the meeting will be initial presentations from a panel of speakers followed by a discussion with parliamentarians and the wider audience moderated by the Chair.
Speakers:
Dr. Titilola Banjoko – Co-Convenor – Better Health for Africa
Kadra Abdinasir – Head of Children and Young People’s Mental Health at the Centre for Mental Health @Kadra_A_
Arike Oke – Managing Director at the Black Cultural Archives @Arike_Oke
Chair: Chi Onwurah MP – Chair of the APPG for Africa @ChiOnwurah