As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, TAIBU Community Health Centre and Scarborough Health Network have launched their “Taking care of Black lives” campaign to provide specific messaging and resources to African Caribbean and Black (ACB) communities across hot spots in Scarborough and throughout the city.
ታይቡ የማህበረሰብ ጤና አገልግሎት ኮቪድ 19 በጥቁር ማህበረስብ ላይ የሚያደርሰውን ጉዳት ለመቀነስ ከስካርቦሮ ሄልዝ ኔትወርክ ጋር በጥምረት ሊሰራ መሆኑን አስታውቋል ።
የ ጥቁር ህዝቦችን ህይወት መንከባከብ የተሰኘው የድርጅቶቹ እንቅስቃሴ በይፋ ተከፍቷል ።
የ ታይቡ የማህበረሰብ ጤና አገልግሎት ስራ አስኪያጅ አቶ ሊበን ገብረ ሚካኤል እንዳሉት ኮቪድ ሁሉንም የማህበረሰብ ክፍል በኢኮኖሚ ረገድ ቢጎዳም የጥቁር ማህበረሰብ በተለየ መልኩ የጎዱ ሁኔታዎች አሉ ” ብለዋል ::
ለዚህም ይህ እንቅስቃሴ ጥቁር ማህበረሰብ ላይ ያተኮሩ የቅስቀሳ እና የመከላከል ስራዎችን ያከናውናል ነው ያሉት ።
የጥቁር ማህበረሰቦች ከቶሮንቶ የህዝብ ብዛት 9% ብቻ ቢሸፍኑም በከተማይቱ በኮቪድ 19 በአዲስ ከተያዘው ቁጥር 25 በመቶውን ይይዛሉ።
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence has shown that racialized communities across the city have been disproportionately affected by the virus, especially among Toronto’s Black residents. According to recent figures from Toronto Public Health, while the Black community represents 9% of the city’s population, however Black residents currently account for 24% of all new COVID-19 cases.
“While COVID-19 public health and economic crisis has affected everyone across the board, there are particular and unique needs and circumstances impacting the Black community,” stated TAIBU CHC’s Executive Director, Liben Gebremikael. “In this regard, it is imperative that we employ specific awareness, testing and support tactics and measures that will be most effective.”
TAIBU cites Black Torontonians are more likely to work in service jobs that can’t be performed at home, putting them at a greater risk of exposure. TAIBU also explains that a long history of mistrust in the healthcare system, misinformation, precarious employment as well as asymptomatic transmission in multi-generational households have also contributed to low testing yet contracting the virus at higher rates.
“Through community-led prevention efforts and working with TAIBU, we hope to help address the disparity in COVID-19 infection rates we are seeing,” said Liz Buller, President and CEO, Scarborough Health Network. “As a healthcare facility serving racialized communities, we are dedicated to making COVID-19 screening available and widely accessible. Together, with a renewed strategic focus and targeted campaign we hope to show that access to COVID-19 care should be prioritized for all communities.”
Additional related campaign efforts include:
- Partnering with local community, health, and faith-based leaders and organizations to do local outreach and promote pop-up testing sites.
- Working with area hospitals and other community health providers, such as Scarborough Health Network to provide information, access to services, and health items such as masks and hand sanitizer to communities in need.
- Utilizing a multi-channel media approach and modern technology to communicate information, COVID-19 prevention tactics, and create awareness about testing and resources available to families in need.
News release from Pages For Good
