Time to improve the diversity of paediatric skin images

Although significant progress has been made in the last decade, there is still clear evidence of the

negative impact of racism on health and well-being, through implicit and explicit biases,

institutional structures, and interpersonal relationships (1). It is remarkable that in 2020 we still

face such a situation within our healthcare systems. The time has come for physicians and

researchers to act and make change to these inequalities in health. The impact of the lack of

diversity of skin tone representation in medical resources on the ability of healthcare workers to

recognise childhood skin and genetic conditions, however, has never been established. This is

despite the American Academy of Pediatrics clearly advocating for rigorous research that

examines, amongst others, “the impact of policy changes and community-level interventions on

reducing the health effects of racism and other forms of discrimination on youth development” (1).

This represents a significant gap in the literature that needs to be urgently addressed. Work has

started on trying to address these challenges with medical student Malone Makwende creating the

resource “mind the gap”[2] to specifically highlight skin conditions on black and brown skin. [Opening paragraph]