Inside Health

Covid is still killing higher numbers of men, writes Dr Gwenetta Curry

Since Covid arrived in the UK, the disproportionate number of deaths of ethnic minority populations has remained constant.

And while these racial disparities no longer get much attention in the media, it is important to remember every group does not have the same experience.

Another story that has remained largely hidden from the headlines is the disproportionate number of men who have died, compared to women.

This is important to recognise even though the overall Covid death rate has dropped tremendously, as a result of the increase in vaccinations and advanced medical treatments.

On May 3, there were 1,076 new cases and ten deaths reported across Scotland, which is a far cry from the numbers we experienced a couple of months ago.

In Scotland, you no longer have to wear a mask indoors or self-isolate if you test positive for the virus. Similar situations in many countries have led them to relax their travel restrictions and guidelines.

But there is still a risk.

In the US, twice as many men as women have died and 69 per cent of Covid deaths in Western Europe have been male. Globally, men make up a higher share of intensive care admissions (68 per cent) and deaths (57 per cent), but addressing this disparity has not been a priority.

Men are overrepresented in occupations that do not allow for them to have time off or adequately isolate to protect themselves from the virus. For example, the transportation sector is a male-dominated area and last year bus drivers across the UK expressed their concerns about the lack of protection measures in place to prevent them from contracting the virus. Bus drivers in London complained about unclean facilities and how hard it is to remain socially distant in their depots.

When it comes to addressing issues that men experience, there isn’t the same level of concern as when women are affected.

There has been research showing that childcare duties overwhelmingly fell on the mothers, which had a major impact on their ability to return to working in the office as well as creating challenges when working from home.

But there have not been any studies or funding for efforts to focus on the health of men during the pandemic. UK academic journals have been reluctant to publish articles focusing on the disproportionate number of deaths of Black men from Covid. Unpublished research by Professor Tommy Curry and myself has argued this is a public health crisis that exacerbates racial disparities nationally.

Not only have men been disproportionately impacted by Covid but ethnic-minority men have experienced some of the highest death rates. Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Black Caribbean males have had the highest rates of mortality compared to white males; at 2.7, 2.2 and 1.6 times respectively.

More work needs to be done to better understand why men have much higher rates of mortality and what can be done to reduce the gap. The impact of Covid on population health outcomes will continue to be felt for years.

During the “live with it” stage of the pandemic, it will continue to be important to track the patterns and prevalence of the virus in the population and how ethnic-minority populations remain the most vulnerable.

Dr Gwenetta Curry is an Edinburgh University lecturer on race, ethnicity and health

We were in “the final days of campaigning before the local elections”, according to the news.

Cheap leaf lets thrust through your letterbox by invisible party activists does not constitute “campaigning” – candidates these days are too lazy to walk around the constituency and knock on a few front doors (unless there's a photo-opportunity, of course).

These days I really feel like voting for the first candidate who speaks to me on the doorstep, no matter what party. Get off your fat ar... mchairs, I mean, and earn my vote if you really want it!

STEVE HAYES

Leven, Fife

Powerprofiteers

Wind farms, either under construction, or newly completed, in the North Sea all agreed to sell power to the grid at low fixed prices under the government's “Contracts for Difference” (CFD) scheme. However newly completed wind farms are delaying taking up their Cfds because they can earn much higher prices on the open market.

Moray East, a huge wind farm off the Scottish coast, recently reached full operational capacity, but announced that it was delaying taking up its CFD contract until 2023. Electricity consumers will potentially have to pay this one wind farm an extra £500 million in its first 12 months of operations. CFD contracts allow a great deal of flexibility on start dates, with delays of up to three years possible so £500 million could turn out to be £1.5 billion.

Remember this is just for one wind farm, with more to come. I never thought I would say this but surely it is time to nationalise the wind industry, which is mostly owned by foreign investors.

CLARK CROSS Linlithgow, West Lothian

Notruediversity

Your Comment headline “Culture wars that saw Donald Trump rise to power are degrading democracy in the UK” (3 May) is surely correct. Except in this. Culture wars have already divided democracy. The almost universal acceptance of “progressive” cultural values by the elites in academia, politics, the corporations and the media, has resulted in the demonisation of anyone who dares to think differently – at least 50 per cent of the population.

There is little difference between Ruth Davidson, Anas Sarwar, Nicola Sturgeon and most of the civic elites in Scotland. They treat with contempt those of us who think that a woman is an adult human female; that parents not the State are responsible for children; that Christophobia is as bad as Islamaphobia; that poverty, drugs and crime are at least as important as all the Woke issues coming out of Yale, Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge.

Perhaps if our civic elites really did believe in diversity, inclusion and equality they might be able to encourage more democratic discourse. DAVID ROBERTSON

Sydney

Securityneeded

I fully support Sir Ian Wood’s recent remarks as to energy security. While we are all committed to supporting the move towards cleaner sources of energy, recent events in Eastern Europe have clearly shown that this country needs to take responsibility for a well-thought-through Energy Security Plan. Governments throughout Europe are having to completely rethink their energy futures. And so should the Scottish Government.

Importing oil and gas during the transition phase is not the solution for our future – especially from nations that use the revenue to wage war, inflicting suffering on millions of persons.

Instead of focusing on independence, I appeal to the Scottish Government to work in a mature way with the UK Government to provide this nation with the energy security that is so important to us all.

G WHITBOURN Balmedie, Aberdeenshire

Staysafe

The SNP have continually maintained a strong opposition to the UK’S Nuclear Deterrent and have stated that in the event of Independence, they will remove Trident from Faslane “at a pace”. There is nowhere else in the UK that is as suitable to locate this strategic military asset.

Some arguments from the SNP are understandable to a degree. The fact is, no one in the 21st century would have dreamed that the events unfolding in Ukraine were possible or that a cold-blooded tyrant would invade another country. Would we not be wise to support the Union and take advantage of the massive security benefits that the UK enjoys?

After all, that is our National Security Insurance Policy and Russia would be thrilled to see us tear it up.

IAN PAYNTER

Glasgow

Written Herod-ly?

Anyone who casually refers to the Bible should ensure that they make no mistake in case they look foolish and ignorant. In his article “If King Herod could run a census why does the SNP get it so wrong?”, Perspective, 4 May) Murdo Fraser is a case in point.

The census referred to in Luke 2:1, was actually a local Judean census conducted by Rome, which had taken direct rule of the province in CE6 after ejecting its Herodian king. Herod the Great had been dead for ten years. Moreover, it did not involved the widespread movement of the population implied by Matthew and Luke, or the travels of the “Holy family” (the latter were invented).

So Mr Fraser would have been better to ask “If Rome could run a census...”. STEUART CAMPBELL

Edinburgh

Royally unfair

They just cannot help themselves, can they? After the shameful, grossly expensive and needless postponement of the Census, apparently to prove how different we are in Scotland, hard on its heels comes another example of nationalism in action.

Children throughout the UK are being given a small book to commemorate the Queen’s 70 years on the throne. I am neutral on the question of monarch ybu ti am old enough to recall various goodies i received at pri moment mary school in the Coronation period. It did give me a thrill at the time and a sense of belonging, I do recall that.

That the Scrooge-like SNP would see fit to stop our children getting this once-in-alifetime souvenir is breathtakingly petty and pointless nationalism once again on display. This decision, like all the others in this vein, will, I am certain, come back to haunt them – and so it should. ALEXANDER MCKAY

Edinburgh

NHS needs aid

It's a matter of serious concern that the waiting times within A&E departments in Scotland in March were the worst on record. Behind such stark figures on paper are the real costs of the chaotic situation, both on the people having lengthy waits for treatment in overcrowded conditions and the intolerable pressures on NHS staff to deliver.

Taken along with a faltering Ambulance Service and fit patients being unable to be sent home from hospital because of a dearth of care packages, it's evident that the once prestigious NHS and care sector are crumbling from within.

The most alarming fact is that the Scottish Government seems to be doing very little to remedy the situation other than saying that Scotland is coping better than the rest of the UK. People waiting in hospitals in Scotland for NHS treatment don't really care about what is happening south of the Border but are concerned about their own situation which, under devolved government, is the responsibility of the Health Secretary, Humza Yousaf, who needs to act now.

BOB MACDOUGALL

Kippen, Stirlingshire

Hope from US

It is welcome news indeed that a draft opinion suggests the US Supreme Court may be on the verge of overturning the Roe v Wade abortion law (your report, 3 May).

An overhaul of the abortion law, both here and in the United States, is long overdue. The rhetoric of “my body, my choice” is tired, outdated and scientifically inaccurate. Every abortion kills a human being and such a barbaric procedure has no place in today's so-called civilised society.

Perhaps now the abortion debate can focus on the humanity of the unborn. It is well known that biological human life begins at the of conception; that by ten weeks, when most abortion stake place, the child in the womb has their very own heartbeat, arms and legs, fingers and toes, all of their bodily organs, eyes, a nose, ears and even a smile.

The sooner we turn away from the empty slogans and rhetoric of the pro-abortion lobby, the better. In reality, abortion is not healthcare. It doesn't make a baby healthier and it doesn't make a woman healthier. It just kills.

Our society should offer compassion, love, and advocacy to women and their unborn children – not encourage abortion. Let’s hope that what is happening in the United States will soon follow here. Scotland doesn’t need more abortion – we need a proper national debate about how to humanely support women with unexpected pregnancies.

MARTIN CONROY Cockburnspath, Berwickshire

Parking windfall

The SNP’S recent call for a debate in Westminster on increases to the cost of living called for a Windfall Tax, an idea often echoed by Labour and others.

I think this would be of great benefit to Scotland in particular as it would help many workers to pay for the proposed Workplace Parking Levy. Surely if there is a need to take such action to help with the cost of living, it suggests that this is a bad time to be introducing desperate money-grabbing taxes that hit the very people who need cost of living help? A Windfall Tax will simply balance out a Parking Tax.

One day the SNP might actually think up a scheme that benefits the economy, rather than simply hit everyone’s pockets or buying votes with the many freebies on offer. KEN CURRIE

Edinburgh