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Ensuring ethnic diversity in COVID-19 research

People from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups are disproportionately affected by coronavirus infection, so it’s imperative that they’re included in COVID-19 research. Professor Kamlesh Khunti and Professor Azhar Farooqi from the Centre for BME Health share some tips on how to successfully involve people from BAME backgrounds in your research.

Ethnic inequalities in health and social care outcomes have been well documented in published research. This disparity is even more stark in the COVID-19 pandemic, where it has become clear that people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups are disproportionately affected by coronavirus infection. 

Yet BAME groups are much less likely to be represented in research studies. The reasons for this are complex, with some of the barriers arising out of cultural differences, health literacy, language and accessibility, as well as stigma regarding some health conditions.

And data on participants’ ethnicity is still not being routinely collected in COVID-19 studies, meaning that there is no evidence available that this research is inclusive and representative of all populations. 

Encouraging research participation

The Centre For BME Health, which is supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands and the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, has partnered with the NIHR to make sure that people from BAME groups are included in COVID-19 research.

The first move was to launch a public campaign to raise awareness of the importance of taking part in research among people from BAME backgrounds. This involved partnering with British comedian Omid Djalili, alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Sanjeev Bhaskar, to create a video urging people to take part in COVID-19 research.

The video has been watched more than 2,500 times on YouTube plus a further 150,000 times on social media. And Omid has taken our plea to the national media, appearing on Good Morning Britain to encourage people to take part in research. 

To read more see the NIHR website.