Anti-Black racism a public health crisis, says Toronto’s board of health

Thestar.com
June 10, 2020
Francine Kopun

Toronto’s board of health voted unanimously on Monday to officially recognize anti-Black racism as a public health crisis, and to find ways to redirect city resources towards fighting the problem.

“Society and governments of all types spend far too much money on emergency rooms and emergency services, and not enough time or money tackling the roots of inequality and racism,” said Coun. Joe Cressy, chair of the board of health, as he thanked board members for allowing him to add the item to the agenda at their Monday morning meeting.

“It is an important declaration for us to make that anti-Black racism is a public health crisis.”

The motion comes a day after calls to declare it a crisis in Toronto were raised amid global protests condemning racism and in particular police treatment of Blacks.

The motion did not include targeted funding, but requires the city’s medical officer of health to recommend ways in which the 2021 budget could be focused on the problem.

Cressy said it’s too early to say how money could be redirected and into which programs, but pointed to affordable housing as a clear contender -- Black Toronto residents are more than twice as likely to be living in low-income households than residents who are not members of a visible minority and 44 per cent of Black children live in poverty, compared to 15 per cent of non-racialized children.

“We need to look at how much are we spending on affordable housing, on public health, on access to youth services,” said Cressy (Ward 10 Spadina-Fort York).

Speaking at the daily COVID-19 press conference at city hall, Mayor John Tory said he supports the motion, including the idea of reviewing the budget to find ways to fund programs to address the issue.

Dr. Onye Nnorom, a public health specialist with the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and president of the Black Physician’s Association of Ontario, greeted the news with mixed emotions.

“On the one hand, there doesn’t seem to be any concrete statement around resource allocation or real structural change, but at the same time I am hopeful because this is the first time that I am seeing anti-Black racism really addressed in this way by the city of Toronto and by public health.”

She said she would like to see the idea spread across the province and across Canada.

“Although I feel that this should have been done much sooner, before it had to be declared a crisis this is a sign of hope,” she said. “I’m waiting to see what will come out of this.”

The board of health also received a report on Toronto Public Health’s battle against COVID-19 from Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s medical officer of health. In the report, de Villa noted that the portion of newly reported confirmed COVID-19 cases reached within 24 hours dropped to 72.2 per cent between June 1-3, down from 88.7 per cent at the end of May, largely due to hospital reporting delays.

“Effective case and contact management is currently challenged by several issues related to the transfer of information from laboratories to Toronto Public Health,” she said.

She outlined the many steps the information travels before it gets to public health and the steps public health has to take to extract the relevant data before tracing can even begin.

She recommended that the board of health and city council request the Ministry of Health create an efficient system of transferring information from laboratories to public health units, including if needed, policy changes to information systems and changes to the Laboratories Act, or orders under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.

After pointing out that testing is more than just a numbers game, she also recommended that city council ask the provincial Ministry of Health to develop a provincial COVID-19 testing strategy “based on clear objectives and the best available scientific evidence.”

The board approved both recommendations.