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. 2020 Jul:47:1-3.
doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.05.004. Epub 2020 May 14.

Understanding COVID-19 risks and vulnerabilities among black communities in America: the lethal force of syndemics

Tonia Poteat  1 , Gregorio A Millett  2 , LaRon E Nelson  3 , Chris Beyrer  4
Affiliations

Understanding COVID-19 risks and vulnerabilities among black communities in America: the lethal force of syndemics

Tonia Poteat et al. Ann Epidemiol. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Black communities in the United States are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic and the underlying conditions that exacerbate its negative consequences. Syndemic theory provides a useful framework for understanding how such interacting epidemics develop under conditions of health and social disparity. Multiple historical and present-day factors have created the syndemic conditions within which black Americans experience the lethal force of COVID-19. These factors include racism and its manifestations (e.g., chattel slavery, mortgage redlining, political gerrymandering, lack of Medicaid expansion, employment discrimination, and health care provider bias). Improving racial disparities in COVID-19 will require that we implement policies that address structural racism at the root of these disparities.

Keywords: Black Americans; COVID-19; HIV; Health disparities; Syndemic theory.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overlapping socioeconomic and health conditions (syndemic) in counties with a disproportionate (≥13%) black population. Figure courtesy of amfAR, excerpted from Greg Millett's July AIDS 2020 plenary.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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