Despite the increasing evidence showing that structural, institutional, and interpersonal racism and discrimination impact both physical and mental health inequities in multiple ways, the issue has gained too little attention in the public health domain thus far. As part of the thematic network on anti-discrimination & health equity (DisQo), Equinet joins the call to change this!
DisQo members calls for stronger action against racism and discrimination to achieve health equity
The organisations that are part of the DisQo network recognise racism and discrimination as fundamental determinants of health. They commit to taking an active stance against all forms of racism and discrimination and call for decision-makers at all levels, including the European Commission, to follow suit.
To be more concrete, through a series of webinars, DisQo explored some of the key priorities that the network identified as areas where action is required, including language and definitions, equality data, and the breaking down of silos. This resulted, in April 2023, in a Joint Statement with five key priorities for addressing the issue in a constructive, respectful, and participatory way, namely to:
- Recognise racism and discrimination as fundamental determinants of health, equity and well-being
- Strengthen social participation of racialised and discriminated communities, and foster diversity, representation and anti-discrimination
- Increase clarity and consistency of key definitions related to racism, discrimination and health equity
- Collect more (health) equality data, disaggregated by indicators on multiple grounds of discrimination, and harmonise EU data collection
- Strengthen existing EU anti-discrimination legislation by breaking down silos and boosting policy mainstreaming, transparency, reparative justice and social participation
A glossary with definitions of key terms being used in this document, such as structural and institutional racism, discrimination and health equity, is included in the Annex.
What is DisQo?
The pan-European Thematic Network DisQo aims to address the impact of structural and institutional racism and discrimination on physical and mental health inequities, an issue for which there is
overwhelming evidence, but one that so far has gained little attention in the public health domain. DisQo brings together stakeholders across policy domains to facilitate dialogue and best practice sharing among them, and to provide support and incentives to the European Commission and national policymakers to advance this work. The network has been initiated and is led by the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), and currently about 40 organisations support DisQo. Equinet has been a member since its inception in October 2022.
Find out more about the DisQo Network on the EPHA website.