Angela Carter, Executive Director, Roots Community Services and Liz Estey Noad, Director, System Planning-Peel Mass Vaccination Program, Region of Peel, spoke of the systemic discrimination and historical mistrust in governments as well as the health system for the Black, African and Caribbean (BAC) population, which was revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic. They provided an overview of the BAC Communities Vaccine Strategy, the partners involved in the BAC Communities Strategy Group and the BAC Communities Action Planning Table which worked collaboratively to provide meaningful accomplishments. Key lessons were identified noting that there is still a long journey for local and provincial governments to support change and to address the needs of BAC communities. Initiatives were presented which will help develop health equity approaches for the BAC communities, moving forward.
Regional Chair Iannicca spoke of intersectionality and how the pandemic has affected individuals that live with systemic discrimination. He asked what the Region of Peel is doing well and what can be done better moving forward.
Angela Carter responded that an individual’s education alone does not help with equity and equality, that there is a part of the legacy of living through centuries of slavery, segregated and residential schools that have shaped the lived experience and trauma which is passed from generation to generation. She stated that a lot of policies and systems were developed centuries/decades ago to continue inequality and those policies have not been dismantled or rebuilt, only tweaked with the foundations of such policies still being prevalent. She highlighted that the formation of the BAC Strategy Action Table, the group’s dedication and collaboration between community agencies with a focus on dismantling outdated systems is a good start to making systemic change.
Juliet Jackson, Director, Culture and Inclusion, added that through learnings from the pandemic it was demonstrated that many hands were required to create a BAC Communities Vaccine Strategy, noting that the Region of Peel Health Department leveraged community leaders to start to resolve problems in a very intentional way. She addressed reasons for the original lack of vaccinations within the BAC community being a lack of trust, fear and anxieties. The Region of Peel, with its partners, has begun to create a foundation of trust and systemic change but there is still work to be done to address the social determinants of health and provision of socio-economic supports.
Nancy Polsinelli, Commissioner, Health Services, reiterated that building relationships and achieving integration is about building trust and working together with partners hand-in-hand. Being open and receptive as an organization to the community by letting them take the lead as the experts will help the organization to build the right infrastructure.