Tuberculosis (TB) is impacted by many social determinants of health, which leads to inequities in who is affected by the disease and how it manifests in the population. A shift in public health approach that addresses health equity as the primary focus could contribute to the elimination of TB, in addition to addressing other health inequities across the population.
This is the story of Saskatoon Health Region’s (SHR) work to improve immunization rates and reduce the spread of influenza in Saskatoon’s six core neighbourhoods. SHR’s existing strong socio-economic and health disparities data made it possible to prioritize these core neighbourhoods for H1N1 vaccination programs.
This story describes how Manitoba Health, Healthy Living and Seniors prioritized Aboriginal peoples in its response to the 2009-10 H1N1 influenza pandemic, and used this experience to further develop influenza prevention and immunization equity measures.
Public health practitioners discuss strategies to address the social determinants of tuberculosis.