A new study from Tulane University finds that historical race-based lending practices are still impacting health today, linking these discriminatory policies to delays in effective HIV treatment within affected neighborhoods. The lending practice, called redlining, was abolished in 1968. Yet, those living in once historically redlined neighborhoods experience 15% longer delays in achieving viral suppression of HIV compared to those in non-redlined areas, according to the study published in JAMA Internal Medicine .
The disparity can impact both individual health outcomes and public health efforts to curb the spread of HIV, said senior author Scott Batey, PhD, professor at Tulane's School of Social Work. HIV is, in many ways, a disease of poverty, and this shows how discriminatory practices that limited economic opportunities for previous generations can have a cascading effect upon the neighborhoods in which we live today." Scott Batey, PhD, Professor at Tulane's School of Social Work Redlining involves denying services to residents in certain areas based on their race or ethnicity.
The term comes from the practice of mortgage lenders drawing red lines on maps to indicate areas where they wouldn't make loans. The divestment from those neighborhoods created long-term gaps in health care access, education and household income that affected residents for decades. The study, which is the first to examine the impact of redlining on HIV treatment, sheds light on how historical discr.