An inventory of racism in health care

Racism manifests itself in different ways in the health care system. But there is a lack of reliable numbers and data. An inventory of colonial assumptions, misdiagnosis and lack of sensitivity in medical education.

In 2021, a research team commissioned by the German Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency presented the research project Diskriminierungsrisiken und Diskriminierungsschutz im Gesundheitswesen (Discrimination Risks and Discrimination Protection in Health Care). The result: Discrimination risks exist both in access to and in the use of health care. Discrimination such as racism manifests itself not only in the form of discriminatory behaviour on the part of medical staff, but much more in the form of institutional practices and processes that favour unequal treatment of patient groups.