THE HAGUE – Researchers from the University of Amsterdam are calling for structural reforms in healthcare, education, and research to address health inequalities that can be traced back to the Netherlands’ slavery past.
In their final recommendations, the authors urge the government to invest in further research on intergenerational trauma and health outcomes among descendants of enslaved people, including those from the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom. They also emphasize the need for greater awareness of slavery-related health effects in medical training, social care, and policy development.
The report identifies racism and discrimination in healthcare as ongoing contributors to unequal health outcomes. According to the researchers, these issues are often overlooked due to a lack of historical awareness and a tendency to attribute health disparities to individual behavior rather than structural factors.
To address these challenges, the study recommends actively combating discrimination in healthcare, expanding scientific knowledge, and incorporating the perspectives of descendants into policy design. The researchers stress that without structural changes, health inequalities rooted in the slavery past will continue to persist across generations.