Department of Public Health Launches Health Equity Plan to Address Racism as a Serious Public Health Threat

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has launched a strategic plan to advance racial equity in all the work DPH undertakes and oversees, providing an action- oriented roadmap to address underlying concerns that have perpetuated health inequities across the state. The Strategic Plan to Advance Racial Equity is a call for action and accountability to address the systemic inequities faced by people who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latino and/or Asian or Pacific Islander, seeking to acknowledge, transform, and improve the public health outcomes of all people in Massachusetts. The plan calls for implementing a data equity framework, supporting a racial equity training series for staff, and establishing a racial equity staff survey to enable staff to fully participate.