Accountability | Discrimination in Health Care

Medical ethics require health care providers to treat all people without bias, yet PHR’s work has uncovered troubling instances of discrimination by medical professionals.

Some 3.6 million people live with HIV in Nigeria, yet less than a third of people with a positive AIDS diagnosis receive anti-retroviral treatment. In 2006, PHR conducted an investigation into a disturbing pattern of discrimination by Nigerian health care professionals towards people living with AIDS. Fully 65 percent of the respondent said they had seen colleagues refuse to treat an HIV/AIDS patient, and 40 percent said they had observed colleagues refused to admit people with HIV/AIDS to the hospital.

In 2003, PHR investigated the persistent gap in health statusbetween whites and minorities in the United States. Our report “The Right to Equal Treatment” found widespreadevidence of racial and ethnic disparities in medical care, occurring across thefull spectrum of disease categories and medical and surgical procedures. 

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