Closing the diversity and inclusion gaps in francophone public health: a wake-up call

Abstract

Is the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately just another episode in the history of our era marked by lack of diversity (in gender, discipline, sector, method, origin and age)? Several analyses have already revealed the exclusion of women, civil society or interdisciplinarity in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.1 2 In the world of French-speaking public health, this lack of diversity is not only flagrant but above all historical and structural. The absence of diversity is widely known but never considered as a problem to be solved. It is an open secret, which like others in public health,3 manifests in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.4 Our point of view in this editorial is part of a vision of public health in the broadest sense of the term, open to the world and to interdisciplinarity, not limited to epidemiology, biostatistics or even health education and behavioural change. We are part of a holistic public health,5 which is in line with very old proposals for a new public health.6 We want to draw attention to the persisting lack of diversity in francophone public health and to stimulate a collective debate to find solutions. Without diversity, which implies a fundamental renewal of ways of thinking, people, approaches and paradigms,7 our indignation will still be valid when the next pandemic arrives. Taking diversity seriously means recognising the plurality of our contemporary societies so that our public health actions are more adapted and therefore more equitable, effective, and fair. Let us begin by painting a picture of this lack of diversity. We focus on three types of flagship public health institutions: (1) public health authorities and COVID-19 scientific committees (2) public health education and research and (3) public health advocacy groups and societies. To show that our observation persists and …

Topics & Concepts