Racism is a public health crisis - and we can do something about it. 'A work of towering importance that will undoubtedly change science and save lives, but it will also change the way you see yourself and the people around you' Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra-Processed People A ground-breaking investigation into how racism corrodes science and medicine - leading to worse treatment for everyone. What can you do when science and medicine are as biased as the society they treat? Black and Asian patients in the UK wait nearly a week longer for a cancer diagnosis and globally, people of colour are not only more likely to die while giving birth, they are also more likely to die while being born - or soon afterwards. In Systemic, science journalist Layal Liverpool unearths the shocking facts behind the health threat of racism, and when a scientific bias is this pronounced, it results in worse treatment for everyone. We are collectively more ill, medical research is held back and our potential for scientific discoveries is reduced. But there is hope for a cure - practical solutions that we can implement to heal our world. Individuals can learn to advocate for themselves and others with scientifically backed data in the face of structural prejudice. Governments can enact policies aimed at tackling systemic inequities on a national level. Drawing on years of research, interviews and cutting-edge data from across the world, Systemic is a clarion call for a healthier world for us all. 'A groundbreaking, brilliantly argued book that debunks the myth that illness is the great equaliser' Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize winning-author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Song of the Cell 'Liverpool is a wonderful researcher and this shines through in her writing. Systemic provides a powerful examination on racism in healthcare' Annabel Sowemimo, author of Divided

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.