African Americans have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, but they are underrepresented in studies that would treat the disease, where Blacks account for almost a quarter of the 116,000 lives lost in the U.S. This problem concerns researchers and those working to find a cure for coronavirus. Without Black participants in trials, a Covid-19 vaccine will not work in African Americans.
Medical experts say African American participation in the trial is critical because race, genetics, socioeconomic and environmental factors play a big role in how drugs react in the body.
Why more African Americans don’t participate in trials has its roots in a centuries-long mistrust of experimental drugs and medical institutions.
“The reasons I hear African Americans will not participate are heartbreaking and disappointing,” clinician Calethia Hodges said in an interview. “I have heard about the Tuskegee experiment a lot. And I have heard ‘They [doctors] will give me the virus.’ And ‘They will put a chip inside me.’ Many say their parents raised them ‘to never participate in medical research.’ It’s all tough to overcome.”
In the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, infected Black men were offered penicillin treatments, free medical exams, free meals and burial insurance to be a part of a 40-year study from 1932 to 1972.
But they were not given the drug. Twenty-eight of the original 399 Black men died of syphilis, 100 died of related complications, 40 of their wives were infected, and 19 of their children were born with congenital syphilis. [READ MORE]
This mistrust, coupled with the lack of Black participants in clinical trials, also has researchers concerned about exploitation and medicines being used on patients without their knowledge or consent.
Dr. John Maupin, the former president of Meharry Medical College and Morehouse School of Medicine, believes HBCUs can play a major role in increasing the number of African American participants.
“We have to have more [HBCUs conducting trials] because people will trust them more than they will some other institutions. I’m not saying all are untrustworthy. I’m saying there would be greater trust in institutions led by those who come from the patients’ backgrounds.”
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