Racism, the public health crisis we can no longer ignore

Internationally, we have witnessed the vilification of particular nationalities, with overt forms of sinophobia.6 Politically, xenophobia has been weaponised to enforce border controls against particular nationalities and undermine migrant rights.7 In the UK, minoritised ethnic groups are more likely to contract a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and, subsequently, face a higher risk of a severe form of illness. People from minoritised ethnic groups are more likely to work as key workers in frontline jobs that expose them to SARS-CoV-2, and are more likely to live in overcrowded accommodation, meaning social distancing is not an option.8 They are then more likely to have barriers to accessing health services, meaning that they present late in a worse condition, and with a higher probability of underlying illnesses that put them at greater risk of death. [...]racism is more than this, it is a fundamental cause of ill health.10 At all socioeconomic levels, people of colour have poorer health outcomes.11 Racism cumulates over the lifecourse, leading to activation of stress responses and hormonal adaptations, increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases and biological ageing.12 This trauma is also transmitted intergenerationally and affects the offspring of those initially affected through complex biopsychosocial pathways.13 The root of these so-called biological causes is racism, not race itself.