Racism in Healthcare: A Life-Threatening Problem!

Racism in Healthcare: A Life-Threatening Problem!

In 2024, the anti-racism advice center ZARA recorded an alarming 1,647 reports of racist incidents, an increase of 345 compared to the previous year. ZARA managing director Rita Isiba emphasizes that this is just the tip of the iceberg and the number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher. What is particularly worrying is that more than half of the incidents (61 percent) involve online racism. However, these online attacks also have real effects in everyday life, as Isiba highlights. In addition, 13 percent of reports reported racist incidents in public spaces, with a quarter of them being racist graffiti on walls and memorials the small newspaper determines.

Racism in healthcare

A central focus of the report is discriminatory treatment in the healthcare system. Isiba explains: “Racism makes you sick, and that’s not a metaphor.” Numerous studies have shown that the stress of racist experiences can lead to serious chronic illnesses, including diabetes and high blood pressure. Migrants are often not taken seriously, which leads to misdiagnoses, as common textbooks often only describe skin diseases on light skin. Language barriers represent another hurdle. What is worrying is the fact that 86 percent of those affected do not report incidents as this causes additional stress, resulting in a lack of effective complaint mechanisms and safe spaces, which Isiba said ORF clarifies.

ZARA urgently calls for a national action plan against racism, which should also include medical training in order to offer affected people the necessary support and to get the social challenge under control. According to Isiba, racism must be viewed as a challenge for society as a whole and measures are needed to systematically address this problem.