Public Health Sudbury & Districts believes that no one in our community should be at risk of poor health because of the social and economic environments in which they live. Unfortunately, not everyone in our community has the same opportunity to be healthy.
Health equity
Health equity means that everyone has a fair opportunity to reach their full health potential, regardless of who they are, where they live, or the conditions they experience. We work to reduce health inequities by:
- collaborating with partners
- using evidence to inform action
- supporting policies, programs, and environments
- improving the conditions needed for good health
- addressing barriers across sectors to strengthen social and economic supports
Health equity in action
Differences in income, housing, education, employment, and access to food and health services, social inclusion, social supports, and experiences of discrimination can create health gaps that are unfair, unjust, and avoidable.
When these conditions are unequal, they can lead to avoidable and unfair differences in health outcomes. These differences are called health inequities. Health inequities are:
- Systematic: they follow social and economic patterns.
- Socially produced: they are shaped by policies, systems, and environments.
- Unfair: they can be reduced through collective action.
Download Let’s Talk: Determinants of health
By the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health
Informed by conversations with diverse thought leaders, as well as relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature, this Let’s Talk summarizes current thinking about the social, ecological and structural determinants of health.
Health is more than health care
This five-minute video describes actions that people, organizations, and health care professionals can take to reduce health inequities in our community. It encourages everyone to start a conversation about health—and not talk about health care at all.
Racial equity
Public Health Sudbury & Districts stands firmly in support of racial equity and in solidarity with all who work for it.
- Racism has no place in society.
- Under the Ontario’s Human Rights Code, every person has the right to be free from racial discrimination and harassment.
- No one should be treated differently because of their race or other related grounds, such as ancestry, colour, place of origin, ethnic origin, citizenship, or creed.
- We all must continue to speak out, to listen, to stand united, and act in ways that contribute to the elimination of all forms of racism, overt and hidden, in our communities and our institutions.
In September 2019, the Board of Health for Public Health Sudbury & Districts endorsed an agency Racial Equity Action Framework. Developed collaboratively, the framework has since guided the organization’s planning, partnerships, and community‑informed actions to advance racial equity