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Although the disparity in the number of overall deaths reported between Black and white Americans has narrowed over the course of the last 75 years, researchers say that the same does not hold true for infants.
Black infants are dying at twice the rate of white infants – and it’s largely thanks to healthcare inequality.
“This is like a red alarm,” Harvard University associated professor Dr. Soroush Saghafian explained.
“Our findings are saying: Look, we could have saved five million Black Americans if they had the same things as white Americans have,” he told The Harvard Gazette.
The authors analyzed mortality data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, calculating life expectancy, mortality rates, and years of potential life lost for both white and Black Americas. Saghafian was an author of the research published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Their analysis found that there was a 20.4 percent increase in life expectancy for Black Americans and a 13 percent rise for white Americans, although Black adults still have an 18 percent higher mortality rate.
While the mortality rates for both Black and white infants have improved, the disparity between races has worsened. For Black infants in the 1950s, the mortality rate was 92 percent higher than white infants. Today, that percentage has risen to 115 percent.
While Saghafian noted that the purpose of the study was not to examine the reason for their findings, he stated that the main reasons for excess mortalities are medical.
“Our work raises the critical question of why, over seven decades post-World War II, we still haven’t figured out a solution for this enormous problem,” he said.
The American healthcare system has long been under scrutiny for its astronomical costs and hurdles to patient care. A new study released Wednesday from the West Health Institute has found that the inability to pay for healthcare in the U.S. has reached a new high.
More than a third of Americans – or an estimated 91 million people – report that they could not access quality healthcare if they needed it, according to the latest West Health-Gallup Healthcare Affordability Index.
Rates were higher among Black and Hispanic Americans, with 46 percent of Black Americans reporting that they would be unable to afford quality healthcare.
The center called for policy action - so did Saghafian.
“As I mentioned, we didn’t go into the details of the causes, and I think that needs a lot more attention from both researchers and public policy and public health authorities. At the same time, our findings raise important questions for both researchers and authorities,” he said.
