COVID-19 morbimortality by race/skin color/ethnicity: the experience of Brazil and the United States

Abstract

This study sought to describe the experience of Brazil and the United States in relation to COVID-19 morbidity and mortality data according to race/skin color/ethnicity.  Toward this end, it seeks to describe the factors involved in the treatment and dissemination of the morbimortality data for this pathology in the two countries. The analysis includes epidemiological bulletins released by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, partial results from Brazil’s National Household Survey (PNAD) for COVID-19 collected by the Brazilian Institutes of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), and state-of-the-art health data about the impact of the pandemic in the United States, from the perspective of race/skin color/ethnicity. Despite the low quality of health information on the COVID-19 morbidity and mortality of the black population, the results corroborate racial inequities in health for COVID-19, confirming the existence of structural and institutional racism in both countries.  This article highlights the need to qualify data about race/skin color/ethnicity, by relating them to age, place of residence, type of residence, access to basic sanitation, and occupation, among other social determinants, that impact how individuals become ill and die from COVID-19, in order to enact strategies and public policies that truly promote equity.