Open AccessHealth Inequities: A Look at the Political Determinants of Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Daniel Dawes
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
american journal of health studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1945-4511
pISSN - 1090-0500
DOI - 10.47779/ajhs.2020.191
Subject(s) - pandemic , covid-19 , health equity , politics , ethnic group , race (biology) , political science , coronavirus , economic growth , development economics , health care , social determinants of health , race and health , medicine , sociology , economics , virology , gender studies , disease , law , pathology , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Since January 2020, the U.S. has had over 150,000 deaths attributed to the Coronavirus, and morbidity and mortality rates continue to rise. In the United States, minorities are more likely to die from COVID-19 than other populations - a fact that further solidifies the disparate nature of race and ethnicity relative to one’s health and the inequities in care. COVID-19 has not struck all equally because our economic and social policies have not benefited all equally. This paper introduces a new model, the political determinants of health, which focuses on their role in creating, perpetuating, and exacerbating health inequities.