ANNUAL REVIEW 2020-22
The Muslim Doctors’ Association & Allied Health Professionals CIC (MDA) is almost
20!
Since it formed in 2004 it has grown and its work continues to expand. From community outreach, health policy reform and workforce support, read about all our work during the pandemic.
Excluded on the Front Line: discrimination, racism and Islamophobia in the NHS
Launched during Islamophobia Awareness Month 2021 in partnership with The Grey Area this important report and toolkit provides insights from 150 healthcare professionals on their experiences of discrimination, racism and Islamophobia in the NHS with practical tips, checklists and guidance on institutional reform.
Muslims Commemorate NHS workers on Eid Al Adha 2020
On Friday 31st July Muslims in the UK celebrated one of the holiest days of the Islamic calendar, Eid Al Adha, an occasion which symbolises devotion and sacrifice. Eid celebrations this year were sober, with socially distanced or virtual prayers and the last minute northern lockdown meant many were unable to celebrate as they had planned.
More than 300 NHS workers have lost their lives on the frontline from COVID-19. We were humbled that 20 mosques around the country, from Liverpool, Manchester, London, Birmingham, Southampton and several others, supported the campaign to honour our colleagues and remember their service, devotion and sacrifice. Imams read moving tributes, prayers and poems of the “Army in Blue”. There were posters displaying the names of the 300+ NHS workers and “Thank you NHS” messages.
The campaig was delivered in collaboration with Turn To Love.
Letter regarding the Abbasi case
In a joint letter with the British Islamic Medical Association and the Association of Muslim Lawyers we express our concerns regarding the treatment of a grieving family that received widespread media coverage and urge a transparent investigation in to the case.
Response to the ‘Disparities in the risk and outcomes of COVID-19’ report
In response to the publication of the first part of the Public Health England (PHE report, we co-wrote a letter with 30 other health and care organisations urging the government to publish, in full, the recommendations and findings from the community stakeholder engagements.
PHE submission on health inequalities in the Muslim community
BAME communities continue to experience a high burden of morbidity and mortality both in the community and on the frontline as a result of Covid-19. Compounding this is the increasing concern about the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had on faith communities, especially the Muslim community, many of whom belong to high risk BAME groups.
Religion is a protected characteristic in the Equality Act and the lack of data available on faith communities is concerning. While the inquiry into BAME inequalities is encouraging, emerging data demonstrates that risks are not uniform across ethnic groups and current aggregated BAME categories fail to consider important in-group differences in ethnicity and faith, limiting the scope of understanding and relevant action. Faith-based organisations have been at the forefront of community efforts, providing mental health and spiritual support through helplines, virtual streaming of congregations and bereavement counselling. They have also been providing practical support by organising delivery of food, medicines and essential supplies to elderly, vulnerable and isolated households, offering guidance around issues such as end of life care and celebrating religious festivals as all as having to cope with excess burials and funerals in the community.
SOAS briefing on BAME Inequalities
It is clear that Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities are disproportionately affected by Covid-19. A third of critically ill patients, 19% of deaths, and in some local authorities, more than 50% of deaths are among the BAME community, despite making up 15% of the population. The statistics for healthcare workers are even worse; 72% of all health and social care workers and 93% of doctors who have died have been from a BAME background, amplifying concerns of institutional racism and longstanding intersecting inequalities. It is well known that approximately 80% of health outcomes, and therefore inequalities, are socially determined.
The government’s announcement to conduct an enquiry into BAME deaths is welcome, and it must go further. In order to fully understand the drivers of the excess burden of morbidity and mortality on BAME communities from Covid-19, data must be collected and published on key determinants of health which includes protected characteristics as enshrined in the Equality Act 2010. This requires expansion of the current ethnicity grouping and inclusion of data on age, gender, religion, income, employment, education, immigration status, language, disability and co-morbidities as well as local authority, household structure, population density, pollution and social deprivation indices.
SOAS briefing on Faith
Covid-19 related morbidity and mortality has disproportionately impacted faith communities in the UK, which makes the lack of data available on faith particularly concerning. For many people in these groups, faith is a central part of their identity and way of life, impacting their health beliefs, and personal, household, and community practices. Religion is a legally protected characteristic in the Equality Act. Furthermore, members of minority religious groups are more likely to be from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, and experience multiple intersecting risk factors simultaneously.
More Muslim doctors have died from Covid-19 than all other religious groups combined, making up over 50% of medical worker deaths. BAME doctors, nurses and carers report that they find it difficult to raise concerns about inadequate access to personal protective equipment and testing or unfair redeployment as they feel pressurised and bullied at work. The government needs to urgently collect and publish data by faith and needs to consider a whole system intersectional approach to fully understand and contextualise risks.
Impact of COVID-19 on the Muslim Community
The Muslim Doctors Association submitted evidence to Public Health England’s review on COVID-19 disparities on 21st May 2020.
In the submission we present a rapid review describing the excess burden of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 experienced by members of the Muslim community and the multi-factorial risks involved. The submission outlines a framework to analyse and mitigates these risks to patients, communities and frontline workers covering
- Recognising religion as a determinant of health
- Assessing impact on Muslim communities based on published reports and our community outreach work
- Understanding longstanding intersectional risks and institutional discrimination
- Assessing impact on Muslim healthcare workers based on published reports and case studies submitted
- Our recommendations include
- Publication of outcomes by disaggregated data including religion
- Addressing wider social and structural determinants of health including healthcare access and discrimination
- Early multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary stakeholder engagement to co-produce solutions
- Faith and culturally sensitive health promotion strategies
- Comprehensive occupational risk assessment and support for frontline workers
Ramadan in the Era of COVID-19
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in consultation with community organisations, health and medical experts, the BBSI has been providing ethico-religious guidance to the community. Muslim health workers and professionals, religious and community leaders, and institutions have been requesting the BBSI to communicate a comprehensive yet non-exhaustive guidance for the month of Ramadan and fasting. The BBSI is acutely aware that the Muslim community will likely not able to perform some of the communal activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as attending the mosques and arranging large iftar (fast-breaking) gatherings with friends and family.
Given this, the BBSI and MDA would like to remind all Muslims that Allah – the All-Merciful and Generous – has promised that He will reward us for simply having the intention to do good, even if we are unable to perform what we intend due to forces beyond our control. We take solace from this and exert our efforts to fulfil our duties and responsibilities as best as we can. ‘Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity’. (Q, 2:286)
A Matter of Life and Death
This guidance by the BBSI and supported by MDA lays out an ethical framework, sourced from the Islamic tradition, which can guide Muslim stakeholders in their decision-making regarding resource allocation and end-of-life care. It addresses patient/family-level, clinician-level, and policy-maker level considerations, while recognising that every decision should be contextual and multi-faceted.
