The UK Faculty of Public Health recognises the unacceptable structural racism, inequalities and injustices experienced by ethnic minority populations across the UK as a public health crisis which must be addressed with determined action by all in society.
It is unacceptable that minority ethnic communities are at risk of experiencing lower life expectancies and even lower disability-free life expectancy than those who are not in such minority ethnic groups, especially in the context of Covid-19.
A foundational value of public health is addressing inequalities to protect and improve the lives of all citizens. Public health professionals are committed to speaking out against injustices and discrimination and believe that no person should face disadvantage, even death, because of their ethnicity. In recognition of this crisis, FPH will continue to focus and improve its practice on pro-actively tackling racism.
As a Faculty, we remain committed to upholding strong minority ethnic representation in both our membership and our senior leadership and have become a member of the Race Equality Charter. We issued a statement on racism and inequalities in June 2020, recently held an event focussed on embedding anti-racism into public health practice, and have launched a new Equality and Diversity Special Interest Group.
FPH condemns racism in all its forms and will continue to speak out against it. We will work with our members and partners to raise this issue and take action to tackle the injustices and inequalities faced by minority ethnic populations across the UK and around the world.
21 December 2020
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