Mason Institute Webinar Series: Should Medicine Be Colour Blind?
Location:
Online only
Date/time
Tue 4 February 2025
13:00 - 14:00
About the event
Race and ethnicity, though social constructs, remain deeply embedded in medicine, shaping research, practice, and policy. While medicine strives for a "colour-blind" ideal of equitable care, historical and systemic inequities demand acknowledgment and action. Using racial and ethnic data can illuminate disparities and guide targeted interventions but risks reinforcing stereotypes and biases when misused.
This talk explores the tensions between striving for equity and the challenges of implicit bias, systemic racism, and methodological imprecision. It highlights the ethical imperative to balance addressing health disparities with fostering impartial care. By rethinking medical education, research, and policy, we can move toward a healthcare system that delivers equity and justice for all.
About the speaker
Mehrunisha is a medically trained bioethicist and public health researcher, whose research experience spans healthcare systems analysis to empirical ethics evaluation. Her research interests intersect global health research ethics and clinical ethics particularly where religious and cultural views and values of patients, clinicians and researchers are pertinent. She has extensive outreach and engagement experience, including working with minority groups and diverse sectors across the UK and globally.