Ground-breaking review into Black health inequalities launched in Parliament

MPs called for action on health inequalities among Black communities at the launch of the Birmingham and Lewisham African and Caribbean Health Inequalities Review (BLACHIR) in Parliament today.

The BLACHIR report is the result of a pioneering joint partnership between Birmingham City Council and Lewisham Council, drawing directly on the lived experiences of Black communities in these areas through face-to-face engagement, as well as wider academic research.

It highlights how Black communities continue to experience unequal health outcomes and calls for structural racism and discrimination to be explicitly recognised as drivers of ill health by the NHS.

At the launch of the report in Parliament, Paulette Hamilton MP (Birmingham Erdington) and Janet Daby MP (Lewisham East) urged MPs to continue lobbying for action on Black health inequalities and called on the Government to publish the long-awaited white paper on health inequalities.

The report underlines the scale of health inequalities among Black communities, with maternal mortality among Black mothers five times higher compared to White mothers and Black men twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. It also emphasises the wider economic and social determinants of health inequalities, such as higher levels of deprivation among Black communities and higher rates of exclusion in the education system among Black children.

A number of key recommendations are identified to tackle health inequalities, including the need for structural racism and discrimination to be explicitly recognised as drivers of ill health. The report also calls for improved data collection around ethnicity, cultural competency training for health and social care professionals, co-development of services with Black communities and local public health campaigns focused specifically on Black communities.

Cllr Juliet Campbell, Lewisham Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Refugees and Wellbeing said:

“I am very proud to be leading on the delivery of this unique and ground breaking review. As one of the most diverse boroughs in the country, we are committed to promoting equity and addressing inequality.

“BLACHIR gives us a unique opportunity to act upon our residents’ lived experience of using health and social care services to address health inequalities that have not been adequately addressed by too many, for too long.”

Janet Daby, Member of Parliament for Lewisham East, said:

“I am serious about health outcomes and deeply troubled about the findings of this report. We need legislation which supports everyone’s health in our society and tackles racial inequalities. I am calling for the Government to bring forward the White Paper on health inequalities.”

Paulette Hamilton, Member of Parliament for Birmingham Erdington, said:

“The BLACHIR report shines a spotlight on the health inequalities experienced by Black communities that can no longer be ignored.

“These communities experience racism, discrimination, ignorance and invisibility that can be exacerbated by the systems and processes that should be supporting them. This must change, and that’s why I’m calling on the Government to bring forward the White Paper on health inequalities as soon as possible so that we can begin to address these serious concerns.”

Read more about the Birmingham and Lewisham African and Caribbean Health Inequalities Review.