You only need to look at the Ebola outbreak that started in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018 to see what effect this can have, notes Ellie Kemp, head of crisis response for Translators without Borders. For instance, official communications from the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization likely started out in either English or French, then were translated into a non-local version of Swahili, with key terms like “swab” remaining in French.

“One of the net results of the confusion that caused was that people didn’t really trust the information,” Kemp says. Women and less educated people, especially, “didn’t understand the language used by the doctors and the medical staff. And so they didn’t feel they were able to make themselves understood.” Many chose not to seek medical care, or were misdiagnosed.

“There’s this terrible coincidence between people who are likely to have less health literacy to start with, and people who are less likely to speak an international language,” Kemp says.

She remembers widespread puzzlement about the term “contact tracing”. People didn’t know what a “contact” meant – was it someone in your phone book? Sexual contact?

The phrase was ultimately translated into a Swahili version of “monitoring people who’ve been close to a sick person” – a term that was easier to understand.

Narrowing the gaps

Experts say that addressing these disparities in the short term will require steps that will help everyone, but especially people of colour: getting protective equipment to all essential workers, including janitors and sanitation workers; increasing access to medical care, whether in private or public facilities; providing secure housing for people who fall ill; increasing financial support to both individuals and nonprofit organisations; and ensuring the basics, like handwashing stands and soap, in the areas with the fewest resources, including informal settlements and refugee camps.