Commenting on the Government’s launch of the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), CEO of the Race Equality Foundation, Jabeer Butt OBE said:
“We welcome the establishment of the OHID and look forward to working with it to promote prevention in addressing health inequalities. However, some developments are troubling.
“We were concerned that the lack of independence of Public Health England would impact its ability to address health inequalities and sadly the pandemic has laid bare the lack of progress. With the establishment of OHID, we can’t help but wonder why the language used by the Health and Social Care Secretary talks about “health disparities”, compared to Professor Chris Whitty, who describes “health inequalities” in the Government announcement.
“Disparities and inequalities are not interchangeable. We hope that OHID remains focused firmly on inequalities, and persuades the Government to take action which address the structural factors, such as racial inequality, that drive the differences in health outcomes for so many communities.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. About the Race Equality Foundation
The Race Equality Foundation is a national charity tackling racial inequality across public services to improve the lives of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. Its areas of work cover health and care, housing, children and families, employment, communities and more.
2. Press contact: comms@racefound.org.uk / 07593 454182
