New Study Reveals Staggering Difference Between Black And White Mortality In America

A new report published in the medical journal JAMA offers disheartening health information for Black America.

According to researchers African Americans experienced more than 1.63 million excess deaths – and more than 80 million excess years of life lost – compared to white people during a recent 22-year period, from 1999 through 2020.

The research also showed that heart disease had the “highest excess mortality rates, and the excess years of potential life lost rates were largest among infants and middle-aged adults.”

In addition to heart disease in both men and women, cancer – especially in men – was a major reason for the differences in excess deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control defines excess deaths as the “difference between the observed numbers of deaths in specific time periods and expected numbers of deaths in the same time periods.”

Prior to 1999, researchers say the gap in health/mortality disparities between Blacks and whites was narrowing. There was a period of stagnation from 2011 until 2019, and in 2020 the gap grew dramatically due to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19. The study calls for the health care profession to re-assess its treatment approach of Black Americans.

Dr. Herman Taylor, who is an author of the study and director of the cardiovascular research institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, said, “Real lives are being lost. Real families are missing parents and grandparents. Babies and their mothers are dying. We have been screaming this message for decades.”