Health Advocacy

Advocating for Black Womens' Health

Black women in Canada often experience health conditions and medical complications at an alarmingly disproportionate rate than non-Black women. We are often at the mercy of doctors that have very little experience dealing with black health, hold biases against black people and/or are simply incompetent. So how do we address this issue and ensure that Black women receive the care they deserve? At Afya Collective we believe it starts with Health Advocacy.

Through our Medical Advocacy program, we want to provide our members with the tools, resources and confidence to advocate for themselves when it comes to their healthcare. Afya collective will provide a series of workshops, panel discussions, and a database of Black-friendly healthcare professionals. We want to tackle the lack of knowledge that individuals have regarding their own health, provide an in-depth look behind the curtain of the healthcare sector, and present an array of healthcare options; giving women the power to choose the best path for their healthcare needs.

Afya Body

The physical or external manifestation of wellbeing.

Black Women and Health Matters

At Afya Collective, we are dedicated to services that will give black women opportunities to succeed in their communities.

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Diabetes rate among Black Women
“Diabetes rates, for example, doubled among Black women from 6% to 12% between 2001 and 2012. Black women are overrepresented in national rates for most significant chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, lupus and hypertension.” 6 – Behind the Numbers
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Increase in high blood pressure rates

“Black women also experienced the most drastic increase in rates of high blood pressure across any ethnic group in Canada, increasing from 20% to 27% over this time period [between 2001-2012].” 6 – Behind the  Numbers

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  1. City of Toronto (2017). Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism. Retrieved from  https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-109126.pdf
  1. John Stapleton, et al. (2019) The Working Poor in the Toronto Region: A closer look at the increasing numbers. Metcalfe Foundation. The working poor are defined as those between the ages of 18 and 64, outside of school, living independently, with an after-tax income below the Low-Income Measure (LIM), earning at least $3,000 a year.
  1. Nnorom O, Findlay N, Lee-Foon NK, et al. Dying to learn: A scoping review of breast and cervical cancer studies focusing on Black Canadian women. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. Johns Hopkins University Press 2019;30:1331-1359.
  1. Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population, Catalogue No. 98-400-X2016210.
  1. Turcotte, Martin. Results from the 2016 Census: Education and labour market integration of Black youth in Canada. Insights on Canadian Society. February 25, 2020. Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 75-006-X. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2020001/article/00002-eng.htm
  2. Unit, J. C. K. N. M. C. A. R. O. T. O. C. O. A. S. I. (2020a, February 20). Black Women in Canada. Behind the Numbers. https://behindthenumbers.ca/shorthand/black-women-in-canada/ 

We'd like to sincerely thank our partners for their support:

A Community of
Black Women
by Black Women

We emphasize using evidence based policies, programs and strategies to advocate for Black women to engage in developing their holistic wellbeing.

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