Ontario’s Plan to Collect Race-based Data on COVID-19 Applauded

By Neil Armstrong

 

After weeks of Black health leaders calling for the collection of race-based socio-demographic data on the impact of COVID-19, Ontario has finally agreed to do so.

Dr. David Williams, chief medical officer of health, recently announced that the province would soon begin the process, which comes after consultants said it was necessary to collect socioeconomic status data.

Dr. Williams said the data could also help to identify which populations are at risk, particularly as public health measures are eased and more efforts are geared towards containment. The information would also inform program or policy decisions.

This turnabout came weeks after a press briefing on April 10 where Dr. Williams was asked about collecting race and socio-demographic data.  The question was prompted in response to efforts that the leaders in the Black Health Alliance initiated by an open letter.

Their concern was informed by statistics in the United States and the UK indicating the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black and racialized communities.

At that time the chief medical officer of health said all people are considered “equally important” hence the province would not be looking to collect race-based data.

The Black Health Alliance sees the government’s plan to collect race-based data as a good step forward but it has some concerns.

Its president, Paul Bailey, says communities have been asking for this kind of data collection for a while and more specifically with regard to COVID-19.

“Some of our concerns though are around data quality, specifically as it relates to different public health units… what standards they’ll be using to collect data, whether it’s asking very specific kind of questions, uniformity around those, and then how we have to actually analyze and then act on that data.”

 Angela Robertson, executive director of Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, and Dr. Kwame McKenzie, CEO of the Wellesley Institute and some other Black health leaders are putting together a working group to offer advice to the ministry of health and long-term care.

Black Health Alliance is a broader collective that helps to bring community voices concerns and issues to the table that they then advance.

Bailey said it is concerning to many that the Public Health Agency of Canada says it is still considering the collection of race-based data, given the fact that Canada is in the midst of the pandemic right now.

Meanwhile, public health units in Peel Region, Toronto and Middlesex-London, and the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec have decided to collect socio-demographic data. Alberta's chief public health officer had committed to begin looking into race-based data collection.

“So there’s a movement around it and yeah, folks are continuing to pressure the federal government to align on this front,” says Bailey, noting that it is frustrating but the data collection is important.

On April 2, Black health leaders issued an open letter calling for race-based collection of data on COVID-19’s impact on Black communities in Ontario. 

“To change this pandemic’s trajectory we must be willing to ask difficult questions, including asking who is left behind in current responses and which communities are at increased risk of harm. We will not contain COVID-19 without bringing critical analysis and differential population health actions to our pandemic response,” said the coalition of Black leaders who work in the community health sector.

“We have always understood that a plethora of factors affect health outcomes for Black populations in the province. “Good health” is a product of access, social, cultural and economic factors. Similarly, structural and systemic inequalities are contributors to poor health outcomes. Ontario is home to the largest proportion of Black people in Canada. Here too, as in the rest of Canada, race is a determinant of health.”

It noted that COVID-19 does not flatten these disparities but instead amplifies them.

The coalition said Black workers, particularly Black women, are over-represented in front facing service provider roles, including among personal support workers (PSWs) and registered practical nurses (RPNs). 

It said many are providing essential services, yet unable to access support for their families. 

“COVID-19 is an unprecedented crisis. The policies enacted as the province and communities respond to the pandemic will have lasting impacts. Avenues for minimizing harm are available to the province, including comprehensive consultations with experts and strategists identified by our communities. We urge policy makers and emergency response planning bodies to adopt a critical lens in implementing policies. COVID-19 responses should not further disenfranchise and harm already marginalized communities.” Robertson was among the twelve signatories of the letter.

Meanwhile, Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, applauds the province’s move to collect race-based data on the novel coronavirus but is requesting responsible collection guidelines and asks other provinces to follow suit.

“The disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 disease on racialized communities has once again exposed how economic and structural inequality affects people’s health,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor national president.

 “We can observe this clearly, but without the data to guide us, governments will be ill-equipped to put in place lasting solutions. Ontario’s announcement to collect this data is a necessary first step.”

The union said the sharp rise and concentration of cases including infections and fatalities amongst people of colour in several countries prompted workers across Canada to call for race-based data collection.