Systemic

Layal Liverpool spent her adolescence seeing different doctors, trying to find an explanation for the mysterious rash on her face and arms. When every prescription failed to cure her, she concluded that it must be a rare skin condition that defied diagnosis and treatment. That is until as an adult, she met a dermatologist who quickly provided an accurate diagnosis - eczema.

 

How could so many specialists and medical professionals have gotten it wrong? Liverpool realised that every previous doctor she had seen had one thing in common: they were white. It took a doctor with a darker skin tone like Layal to recognise that eczema looks different on darker skin. This led her to think - what other medical conditions go undiagnosed in darker-skinned people because doctors aren't trained to recognise the diverse ways that symptoms can manifest? Could an ostensibly objective scientific practice like medicine be racist?



In Systemic, Liverpool draws on her background in biomedicine and reporting from across the world to determine the ways in which racism affects our health. Race is a social construct, not a biological one, but Liverpool's research reveals that from the moment of birth, race has a profound impact on health. From cardiovascular disease to viruses, from cancer to mental illness, she delves into the reasons racial health disparities exist and reveals that diseases are not ?great equalisers' - not when you live in an unequal society. The widespread adoption of new, anti-racist medical standards will be central in creating a healthier world for everyone.