We’re on a cliff right now. Global convulsions like the global one are lately experiencing an opportunity for us to rise up and be in the right aspect of the story. We are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for public health. At the same time, protesters took to the streets to denounce decades of widespread and systemic racism.
These two disorders are deeply intertwined. Complex age and pre-existing situations are understood to increase the threat of very bad fitting with COVID-19. Initiatives such as COVID Racial Data Tracker have opened a window on the effect of COVID on communities of color. However, it was only when the CDC’s most comprehensive knowledge of morbidity and mortality (after a trial) became scary that vulnerable communities were burdened with an undue burden.
Still.
By examining 640,000 infections detected in nearly 1,000 communities, knowledge showed that Latinos and blacks were 3 times more likely to be inflamed with COVID-19, and nearly twice as likely to die of COVID-19 than whites.
Despite months of learning to be inspired, the disruptions in the current list of fast-growing hot spots reflect a diversity of failures:
Residents of Phoenix South, a majority of Latin America, waited for hours in scorching heat to take a COVID-19 check in June. Despite spikes in infections, Sacramento County announced its last five coronavirus control sites in under-neglected communities due to growing shortages of control equipment. And Pennsylvania, like many states, continues to fight testing and has faced a shortage of materials and delays in the results of laboratory checks. Resources for black communities were so insufficient in Philadelphia that Dr. Ala Stanford filled a pickup truck with checks and administered them, at a very low price, to others who did not have access to health care.
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COVID-19 is another systematic deprivation of color for Americans. That’s why we want to democratize COVID-19 detection and make sure communities of color have the equivalent of health care and the wisdom of their fitness.
Fortunately, we’re closer than you think. One strategy is to adopt the same style shown that is used to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic: self-testing.
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A quick self-test can move the needle offering tests and effects to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Self-testing gives others a result in minutes, without the instrumentation needed to interpret the effects and without having to send the samples to a lab for treatment. Home pregnancy tests would be arguably the most productive known example, but self-testing can also be done to detect HIV.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of other HIV-positive people who were aware of their prestige had nearly doubled to 81% between 2015 and 2018, according to a report by the STAR Initiative, UNITAID and the World Health Organization.
The reason? A combination of HIV self-testing that can be easily administered at home and the concerted efforts of governments and civil society. The extension staff literally put the kits in their backpacks and distributed them door to door.
Immediate self-protection like this can help you prevent the spread of COVID among our most vulnerable communities in the United States and around the world. Imagine that it has the effect of a control that does not require going to a lab or control site.
This vision is already a reality. For example, my company’s scientists are rushing to offer a quick self-test that would verify an active infection by detecting viral proteins (antigens) on the market until the end of the year. To date, there is no evidence of COVID-19 for an active infection like this, which would provide a result at the collection point without the need for a tool to interpret the results.
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Collaboration between the public, personal, and non-profit sectors can help expand tests like these. A recent report on the Rockefeller Foundation’s evidence indicates that another $75 billion in federal investment will be allocated to make the evidence available to everyone and to ensure that low-income communities and minorities receive good service. The report goes on to say that it is “the best investment the United States can make to avert an even more tragic and imminent catastrophe.”
Everyone, regardless of their zip code, skin color or number one language, deserves access to accurate diagnoses, effective remedies, and preventive vaccines. With a reliable COVID-19 self-test model, such as the one that has been effectively followed for HIV, we can democratize testing for the long-term fitness of all.
Let’s eliminate the disparities, let’s not raise them. Let’s not leave the evidence any other details that separate us.
Stephen S. Tang, Ph.D., is president and ceo of OraSure Technologies, Inc. in Bethlehem. An edition of this piece made the first impression on the Morning Call.
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