BLACK AND ASIAN PEOPLE WAITING LONGER FOR CANCER DIAGNOSIS IN UK: STUDY

M0n 29 August 2022:

Black and Asian individuals in England must wait longer for a cancer diagnosis than white people, according to an exclusive research by The Guardian. Some of them must wait a further six weeks for a diagnosis, per a “disturbing” analysis of National Health Service (NHS) waiting times.

In six of the seven cancer studied, minority ethnic patients wait longer than white patients, according to a review of the world’s largest primary care database by the University of Exeter and The Guardian. Patients with delayed diagnoses have fewer alternatives for treatment since those options may be less effective.

As per The Guardian – The analysis of 126,000 cancer cases over a decade found the median time between a white person first presenting symptoms to a GP and getting diagnosed is 55 days. For Asian people, it is 60 days (9% longer). For black people, it is 61 days (11% longer).

The University of Exeter looked at 126,000 cancer cases in England between 2006 and 2016. The data covered the four most common cancers – lung, breast, prostate and colorectal – and three commonly diagnosed in ethnic minorities: oesophagogastric, myeloma and ovarian.

An earlier research had already established that ethnic minorities suffer worse outcomes when it comes to certain cancers in England and are less likely to report a positive healthcare experience.

The differences in wait time for a diagnosis are particularly stark for some cancers. A white man for oesophagogastric cancer – of the stomach or oesophagus, is likely to get a diagnosis within 53 days of reporting the symptoms. However, for Asians it is 100 days. In myeloma, the third most common type of blood cancer, the median diagnosis wait time for white people is 93 days. For black people, it is 127 days.

Experts say it is important to understand why are ethnic inequalities in healthcare happening, endangering their lives. “We urgently need to address these underlying factors holding black and Asian patients back from getting a fair chance when it comes to fighting cancer,” Jabeer Butt, the chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

According to Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, which provided funding for the study, longer wait times result in more stress and worry for patients of ethnic minorities.

The data was analyzed by Guardian, who produced some astonishing results. It stated that black or Asian patients waited longer for a diagnosis than white patients in six of the seven malignancies examined. The exception was lung cancer, where the median wait time for black patients, Asian patients, and white patients was 129 days. Black people had to wait 37% longer on average for a myeloma diagnosis than white people did.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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