{"id":26115,"date":"2020-06-26T10:22:35","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T10:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org\/?p=17716"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:16:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:16:46","slug":"coronavirus-reports-as-a-black-man-with-advanced-prostate-cancer-who-wouldnt-be-worried","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/coronavirus-reports-as-a-black-man-with-advanced-prostate-cancer-who-wouldnt-be-worried\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus reports: \u201cAs a Black man with advanced prostate cancer, who wouldn\u2019t be worried?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

Alfred was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Earlier this month, Public Health England published a long-awaited report<\/a> on how factors like age, ethnicity and sex are linked to a person\u2019s risk of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

The report confirmed what many news headlines had already implied \u2013 that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, and seems to be exacerbating many other existing health inequalities too.<\/p>\n

And while a follow-up report<\/a> has gone into more detail about why inequalities might exist between ethnic groups, there are still some unanswered questions.<\/p>\n

We spoke to Anisha and Alfred about the latest findings.<\/p>\n

Anisha: \u201cWe need to deal with health inequalities\u201d<\/h2>\n
\"Anisha<\/p>\n

Anisha wearing PPE for a clinic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Anisha, a GP who has had bowel cancer, was concerned when the COVID-19 figures started to come out. \u201cAs someone who is BAME and working in the frontline of the health service I thought, how scared should I be?\u201d<\/p>\n

A particular worry for Anisha was that, after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in September 2018, some of her cancer treatment could make her more vulnerable to the virus. \u201cAs I am of Asian origin and have had cancer treatment myself not so long ago, I did think whether I should be working, but only for a split-second. This is my job and I want to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just Anisha who\u2019s worried, the headlines about increased risk of COVID-19 are creating huge anxiety in Black, Asian and other minority ethnic communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many unknowns about what is going on. Is it related to genetics? Vitamin D? Is it cultural or socio-economic? Is it due to barriers to health messages?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was talk in the latest government report of issues like people not asking for PPE. The answers are going to be so complex.\u201d<\/p>\n

But even though the figures have so far raised more questions than they\u2019ve answered, Anisha feels it\u2019s important to get them out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason that we can even ask some of these questions is because of the statistics that are coming out around COVID-19 \u2013 these statistics are being monitored so closely for so many reasons, and health inequalities are being highlighted immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next step for Anisha is for governments and health services to learn from them. \u201cAs a GP, I am a health provider, and we need to deal with health inequalities \u2013 it\u2019s our job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin BAME communities, we know that there can be different challenges around health messaging, and extra work is needed on education.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere can be stigma around certain illnesses, and around treatments, lack of knowledge of symptoms, and fear, as well as generational attitudes to talking about health. These may lead to later diagnosis of a wide range of illnesses, including cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while, as a disease, COVID-19 is very different to cancer, Anisha thinks that it shows how much work is needed to break down these inequalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that we are even talking about these issues is a good thing \u2013 it is something that has needed to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alfred: \u201cAs a Black man with advanced prostate cancer, who wouldn\u2019t be worried?\u201d<\/h2>\n
\"Alfred<\/p>\n

Alfred on one of his daily walks during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Alfred is having treatment for advanced prostate cancer. \u201cI had to go into hospital during lockdown because I was feeling unwell and needed to be checked out. I was given a COVID-19 test and, when it came back as clear, I was so relieved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a Black man with advanced prostate cancer, and hearing all the stats since the start of COVID-19, who wouldn\u2019t be worried?\u201d<\/p>\n

Alfred says that while the COVID-19 test results provided some relief, the concern lingers. \u201cWith the lockdown relaxing, I am so worried about further waves of COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have heard so many people in BAME communities who have been affected by COVID-19. It has spread so much fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Anisha, Alfred has questions about the figures. \u201cThe COVID-19 statistics are showing problems, but they need to be investigated further. Are there specific cultural issues that are important within those groups too? We have not got to the bottom of the causation. There are more questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for Alfred, it\u2019s bigger than COVID-19. \u201cWhen I was in hospital, a doctor was talking about people coming to hospital being diagnosed with cancer later. It was a reminder that cancer has not gone away, and the inequalities within BAME communities exist in cancer too.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s concerned that further waves of COVID-19 could compound issues. \u201cBAME people could be more affected, and they could also be more affected by the backlog in cancer too \u2013 how many more things do we need to deal with?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to health messaging, there are trust issues. Whether it\u2019s from Number 10, the Department of Health or charities, health advice needs to be backed up by investment in reaching communities. You have to listen to people who have experience of communities and harness these experiences to make an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Alfred, working with people from different communities is essential to health initiatives. \u201cWhether that\u2019s about COVID-19 or cancer, if you aren\u2019t doing it right, you won\u2019t get far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Bourton is a media volunteer liaison manager at Cancer Research UK<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks to Anisha and Alfred for sharing their experiences with our Media Volunteer Liaison team. Anisha is also on Instagram as @doctorsgetcancertoo<\/em><\/p>\n

If you would like to share your story with us, please visit our website. And if you have questions about cancer, you can talk to our nurses Monday to Friday, 9-5pm, on freephone 0808 800 4040.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Read more from us:<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

More on this topic<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alfred was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012. Earlier this month, Public Health England published a long-awaited report on how factors like age, ethnicity and sex are linked to a person\u2019s risk of COVID-19. The report confirmed what many news headlines had already implied \u2013 that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Black, Asian and minority ethnic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26115"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44254,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26115\/revisions\/44254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}