In 2021, the European Commission established a Permanent Anti-Racism Civil Society Forum in support of the EU anti-racism action plan 2020-2025, structured civil society engagement in its implementation. In 2026, with the launch of the EU anti-racism strategy 2026-2030, this Forum is being renewed with a broader membership.
EPHA has just been confirmed as one of the Forum’s new members, enabling the public health community to directly contribute to EU-level anti-racism policy development and implementation. This is a recognition of the hard work done by members of the DisQo Stakeholder Network: anti-discrimination and health equity, which has been raising the public health voice in the EU’s anti-racism efforts for nearly 4 years.
Racism, discrimination and xenophobia are recognised as fundamental determinants of health, shaping exposure to risk, access to care, and health outcomes across populations, as highlighted in the 2022 Lancet Series on Racism, Xenophobia, Discrimination, and the Determination of Health. Against this background, DisQo was established in October 2022 on the EU’s Health Policy Platform.
Since then, the network has steadily grown thanks to the support of its members, a close partnership with OHCHR Regional Office for Europe and Equinet – European Network of Equality Bodies, and through the committed work of the Commission’s Coordinator on combating racism, Michaela Moua and her team.
With the commitment and expertise of over 90 members across fields of public health, equality, social justice, research, and human rights, the DisQo network has run webinars, consultations and 3 annual conferences that have resulted in a body of recommendations covering 6 core themes; recognising racism and discrimination as determinants of health, meaningful participation of affected communities, respectful and inclusive language, disaggregated equality data, breaking down silos through policy mainstreaming, and addressing racism and discrimination in healthcare and science.
These recommendations were handed over to the European Commission ahead of the launch of the EU anti-racism strategy 2026-2030 and continue to be developed through ongoing consultation within the network. The new strategy includes stronger recognition of racism as a determinant of health, alongside commitments to address racial bias in healthcare, improve health equality data collection, and support more equitable health policies developed together with affected communities. These are areas that DisQo has consistently advocated for over recent years.
The new strategy reflects important progress, but the real test will be delivery on the ground through coordinated and well-resourced national action plans against racism. With this renewal of the Forum, DisQo will redouble its efforts to ensure these plans lead to action. Our network is always looking to expand, so we invite all stakeholders interested in advancing health equity and anti-racism action to explore the recommendations and join us in this work.
Tomas de Jong
Policy Manager
tomas.dejong@epha.org
