Structural change is needed to reduce inequality in health affecting black, minority and ethnic communities, according to local government leaders.

The comment by David Fothergill of the Local Government Association (LGA) follows a report by the University of Manchester that said ‘structural and institutional racism’ was responsible for different rates of illness and death among ethnic minorities during the COVID epidemic.

Cllr Fothergill said action to reduce inequalities would include greater support for education and employment.

The research published in The Lancet found that compared with the white majority group, South Asian people were three times more likely to test positive for infection.

Black people were 1.8 times more likely to test positive while mixed and other ethnic groups were 1.3 times more at risk of infection.

The study, which is based on an analysis of 77 research studies covering 200 million people throughout the world, also found that after being admitted to hospital ethnic minority people were more likely to be admitted to intensive care than white people.

It says higher infection rates were driven by socioeconomic inequalities and occupational risks experienced by ethnic minority groups.

It concludes: ‘These higher rates may be a reflection of poorer health before infection with COVID 19, or inequalities in access to healthcare or service quality, all of which are a result of structural and institutional racism.’

Cllr Fothergill said: ‘There is no simple one size fits all solution to reduce health inequalities amongst those in our black, minority and ethnic communities but it is clear that structural change is necessary.

‘Reduce deprivation and much of the associated problems dissipate to an extent.

‘This means greater support for education and employment in order to aid recovery and make progress against health inequalities.’