On September 3, Mike Bloomberg and his organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies, donated a whopping $100 million to historically Black medical schools. The schools that received the donation are, Morehouse School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, and Howard University College of Medicine.
Howard University’s College of Medicine received $32.8 million of Bloomberg’s donation. Best of all, the money will be used solely for student scholarships in order to assist students with financial need and ease the burden of med school debt.
This donation comes as COVID-19 continues to sweep the country and disproportionately affect the Black community. The APM Research Lab compared Coronavirus mortality rates by age and ethnicity and found that Black people were twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than white people. However, this statistic dramatically changes when a Black patient is cared for by a Black doctor. In order to combat this issue, Bloomberg said, “To save Black lives, we need more Black doctors.”
Recently, a study was published to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which discovered that Black newborns were three times more likely to die than white newborns when cared for by white doctors. However, the mortality rate of Black newborns decreased as much as 58% when cared for by Black doctors. This shocking study revealed the racial disparities within the healthcare system; the study clearly proved that Black people have a higher chance of survival in medical situations when cared for by Black doctors– not only as infants, but also as children and adults.
These recent revelations of our country’s medical system and its blatant neglect of Black patients has caused members of the Black community to call attention to the need of more Black doctors. In addition, there has been a heightened awareness for Black people to demand service from Black doctors when in need of medical attention.
Undoubtedly, Mike Bloomberg’s donation will help med students across the country and increase the number of Black doctors in the medical field. On behalf of The Mecca; Thank you, Bloomberg!