Blood Cancer Charities join criticism of race report

Cancer charities Anthony Nolan and Blood Cancer UK have become the latest in the voluntary sector to voice their concerns over the findings of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities controversial recent report.

The two charities have written an open letter to Commission chair Tony Sewell to highlight concerns that people from minority ethnic backgrounds have a worse experience of NHS treatment and care.

“We will do everything in our power to understand and tackle these inequalities in blood cancer and blood disorders. But the government needs to do more too,” said Anthony Nolan.

The letter has been signed by the Anthony Nolan chief executive Henny Braund and Blood Cancer UK’s CEO Gemma Peters.

Today, our CEO @HennyBraund, and @gemmapeters from @bloodcancer_uk have written an open letter to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities to voice our concerns with its findings. 1/3
— Anthony Nolan (@AnthonyNolan) April 12, 2021

Their letter says: “We are writing to express our concern with the conclusions of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities with regards to disparities in health.

“The report states that many of the disparities observed, including in health, are primarily rooted in factors such as socio-economic background and occupation rather than in racism

“As two of the largest blood cancer charities in the UK, we feel that it is disingenuous to minimise the role that race plays in determining access to treatment, experiences of care and long-term outcomes.”

It adds that “we firmly believe that any interventions that aim to target health disparities must have a deliberate and focused emphasis on the needs of minority ethnic groups to make any meaningful change”.

The publication of the Commission’s report sparked outrage across the charity sector after it controversially concluded that it could not find evidence of institutional racism in the UK.

Charity leaders signed a joint letter coordinated by the Runnymeade Trust last week urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson to repudiate the findings and withdraw the report.