The Institute of Tropical Medicine and the Centre for Migration and Intercultural Studies are organizing the third in a series of annual seminars on migration and health. In 2022, the focus is on whether and how race and ethnicity are approached and studied in health research, and how race/ethnic-based data may or may not be used to assess health inequalities and interpret health outcomes.
COVID-19 has been a recent wake-up call, highlighting existing racial inequities in opportunities for prevention and outcomes. Other chronic conditions, such as HIV, taught us how complex the roots of such health disparities are. Although race and ethnicity in itself are not the causes of health disparities, racism and discrimination systematically generate health inequities, and often intersect with other social health determinants, such as poor education and poverty. Concerns about privacy and reiteration of stigma and discrimination through collecting and using such sensitive data have been acknowledged. However, inequalities can only be measured and addressed effectively if they are understood, assessed, and made visible in first place.
The current decolonization debates has exposed the lack of ethnic/racial diversity within the health sector. Little attention is given to racial inequalities, ranging from medical training, healthcare practices to policy making and monitoring and evaluation of health outcomes.
For instance, there is a lack of attention in medical training programs on how chronic exposure to discrimination, migration-related stressors, and broader social health determinants may impact on health outcomes among different racialized and ethnic minorities. Also in healthcare practice, little attention is given to these mechanisms and they are currently not sufficiently reflected in health care practice. International research and practice shows that integrating race/ethnic-based criteria within national health data registration is indispensable for providing healthcare tailored to the needs of ethnic and racialized minorities. While such data are structurally not included in the Belgian health surveillance systems, their registration could provide a starting point for policy-making to address the underlying causes of existing racial health disparities. However, the overall implementation of these race/ethnicity-based data systems must be thought further and designed in such a way that they cannot be instrumentalised or have a negative impact on minorities.
In this seminar, we will discuss whether and how race and ethnicity can or should be monitored in the health sector, and we will focus on potential pitfalls and gains. Selected topics will be addressed by experts and their implications will be illustrated by practical case-studies. The multidisciplinary audience will be engaged in interactive discussions through question & answer sessions.
When?
2nd of June ; 13:30 – 17:00 with networking reception afterwards
Where?
The seminar will be hosted by the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Aula Janssens at Campus Rochus:
St. Rochusstraat 43, 2000 Antwerp
For whom?
ITM staff, (Clinical) practitioners, health and social workers, and researchers with an interest in the subject
Programme
o 13:30 – 13:40 Arrival + coffee
o 13:40 – 13:50 Welcoming words
o 13:50 – 14:45 Race and ethnicity in medical training
· 13:50 – 14:10 Afromedica (University of Ghent)
· 14:10 – 14:30 Reflections on Cultural Competence in Medical Education (Winny Ang, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp)
· 14.30 – 14:35 Q&A
o 14:35 – 15:25 Race and ethnicity in practice
· 14:35 – 15:05 Identifying ethnic and social inequalities along the care pathway and solutions to address them (Rohini Mathur, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK)
· 15:05 – 15:20 Case study: Belgian (federal)pilot project community health workers/Antwerp experiences
· 15:20 – 15:25 Q&A
o 15: 25 – 15:40 Coffee Break
o 15:40 – 16:25 Race and ethnicity in research and policy
· 15:40 – 16:00 Interplay of demographic and socioeconomic indicators to explain COVID-19 related excess mortality in Belgium (Kathrien Vanthomme, VUB/Free University Brussels)
· 16:00 – 16:20 Case Study HIV/Sciensano (Jessika Deblonde)
· 16:20 – 16:25 Q&A
o 16:25 – 17:00 Debate: Discussion with all panellists and audience
o 17:00 – 18:00 Reception + networking opportunities
Organizing committee:
ITM: Christiana Nöstlinger, Ella Van Landeghem, Jef Vanhamel, Marie Meudec, Sabien Salomez (Organization)
CeMIS: Lore Van Praag, Hanne Apers