Advancing health equity for the LGBTQIA+ community

Healthcare systems are failing the LGBTQIA+ community and transgender individuals in particular. Too often they are not getting the care they need.     The stigma and discrimination of recent decades die hard and continue to negatively impact LGBTQIA+ healthcare outcomes in many cases. New approaches and new attitudes to delivering healthcare, without discrimination, are needed to ensure that this community thrives.  A key challenge facing LGBTQIA+ patients is varying attitudes to the community in different parts of the world and even in different states or regions.  Increased health risksOne important dimension of health for trans people in particular is socio-economic disadvantage. “Unemployment rates are two to four times the national average and a third of trans people have been homeless and on the street at some point in time,” says Corrine Goodwin, Executive Director of Eastern PA Trans Equity Project. “When you ' re homeless and you ' re unemployed and you ' re not getting good healthcare, you often resort to doing whatever you have to do to put a roof over your head, and unfortunately a lot of times that is sex work. So, now we have issues with contraception and STIs and HIV, and if you ' re a trans woman of color these issues only get magnified. ” According to Goodwin, transgender people are 66% less likely to use contraception and 170% more likely to have experienced rape or sexual violence.  Mental health is another important area to address. Transg...
Source: EyeForPharma - Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Source Type: news