UK calls for action on racial bias in medical devices

Britain on Sunday called for international action on the issue of medical devices such as oximeters that work better on people with lighter skin, saying inequalities could cost ethnic minority patients lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he has reviewed the issue after learning that oximeters, which measure blood oxygen levels and are important to assess. COVID patients give less accurate readings for patients with darker skin.

“It’s systematic around the world. It’s about racial bias in some medical devices. It’s unintentional but it exists, and the oximeter is a good example of that,” Javid said during an interview with the BBC.

asked whether People may die from COVID-19 as a result of the defect, Javid said: “I think maybe yes. I don’t have all the facts.”

In a statement, the health ministry said the objective of the review would be to identify where systematic bias and risks exist with existing equipment and to recommend how to deal with issues in the manufacturing of medical devices from design to use.

It said it expected to present preliminary findings by the end of January.

Javid said the discrepancies in accuracy were caused by too many medical devices, drugs, procedures and textbooks being put together in white-majority countries.

He said he planned to work with other countries to tackle the problem and had already spoken about the issue to his US counterpart, who was as interested in it as he was.

Javid said he became aware of the problem because, in Britain, people from black and other minority ethnic backgrounds were disproportionately affected by COVID-19, with high rates of hospitalization and death in intensive care units. with.

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