Equity Charter

  • The Equity Charter was founded by Ayesha Rahim, Victoria Betton and Hassan Chaudhury. As people working in the digital health sector, we were appalled by the racist and misogynistic comments reported in The Guardian, by the owner of TPP, a large digital health company.

    We launched our open letter at the Rewired Digital Health conference on 13 March 2024 and called for individuals and organisations to become signatories. With over one thousand individual and over sixty organisational signatures, we organised a summit on 23 July where thirty equality, diversity and digital health experts came together to develop the charter.

    We sought views on our ten equity principles for digital health at the HETT Show on 24 and 25 September and in a survey. 

    We will formally launch the Equity Charter at Rewired Digital Health on 18 March 2025.

  • Our purpose is to advocate for equity in digital health.

    Our primary focus is on standing up to racism. We recognise that we live intersectional, complex lives and we hope that by taking a stand against racism, we can have a positive impact on reducing inequity more broadly. 

    We hope to build alliances and coalition with other individuals and groups advocating for equity.

  • Our vision is for an equitable digital health sector, where our products, platforms and services meet the needs of everyone, and particularly underserved communities.

  • Equity is the process of treating people fairly and justly according to their circumstances. Equity aims to identify and remove barriers that prevent some of us from fully participating. 

    Whilst equality means each individual or group of people being given the same resources or opportunities, equity recognises that each person has different circumstances and allocates resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

  • We believe that being anti-racist is about interrogating how racism has been designed into our systems and taking an active stance in designing it out.

    We believe that being anti-racist goes beyond the sentiment of not being racist and  is a conscious choice to actively recognise and challenge the systemic inequalities and injustices that exist in society. 

    Systemic racism often exists even in the absence of explicit racist intentions from individuals, and instead is a complex interplay of policies, practices, and cultural norms within institutions and society. Our job is to design this out by putting equity at heart of everything we do..

    We subscribe to the five principles for anti-racism in health and care as set out by Professor Joy Warmington and Simon Newitt at The King’s Fund. They are summarised below and you can read them in full here.

    Anti-racism requires a spirit of collaboration, experimentation, and learning. We are not experts in anti-racism but we are collaborating with people who are.

  • The impacts of systemic racism and inequity are far reaching and we summarise some of the impacts for the digital health sector and wider society.

    Innovation: Non-diverse teams hinder innovation, problem-solving, and decision-making, leading to lower performance and financial returns.

    Digital Products: Digital health products that overlook underserved communities miss market opportunities, harm adoption, and exacerbate health inequalities, increasing societal costs.

    Procurement: Failing to consider equity in procurement risks spending public funds on ineffective solutions and harms reputations.

    Workplace: Racism and inequity create hostile environments, limit career progression, reduce morale, and hinder team effectiveness.

    Healthcare: Inequity worsens disparities in access, care quality, and outcomes, exacerbating health inequalities and reducing population health.

  • Each of us commits to standing up for equity

    Equity begins with individual responsibility whereby we actively challenge our own and others biases, uphold fairness and challenge inequity. By fostering a personal commitment to equity, we each contribute to creating a more just and inclusive sector.

    Leaders, teams, and organisations champion equity

    Leaders set the tone for equity by prioritising inclusive policies and day-to-day practices, ensuring that all individuals have access to the resources, support and opportunities they need to succeed. Teams and organisations continuously advocate for diverse perspectives and ensure equity is embedded in all aspects of their work, resulting in systemic fairness, addressing inequities and promoting equality.

    Equity embedded into policy and practice

    Equity is reflected in organisational policies and day-to-day practices, ensuring that all individuals have access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed. By integrating equity into policies, organisations promote systemic fairness, addressing inequities and promoting equality.

    Equity at the centre of digital strategy and transformation

    Digital transformation prioritises equity by ensuring that technological advancements benefit all individuals, regardless of background or circumstance. An equitable digital strategy involves addressing accessibility barriers, promoting digital literacy, and ensuring that technology serves the diverse needs of communities.

    Digital teams represent the wider workforce and communities they serve

    Diverse digital teams reflect the wider workforce and broader demographic they serve. Practicing inclusive recruitment will help include varied perspectives, so teams can better understand the needs of different communities and create more effective, equitable products and services.

    Equity embedded in research and innovation

    Research and innovation in digital health should be designed to benefit all, particularly underserved communities. By prioritising inclusivity in research, equity is embedded from the start, ensuring that the outcomes of digital innovation address real-world disparities and promote access for all.

    Digital products and services are designed equitably

    Digital products and services are developed with accessibility, fairness, and inclusivity in mind. This includes designing user-friendly interfaces, addressing barriers to access and ensuring that products meet the needs of diverse populations, particularly those who have been historically underserved.

    Ethical procurement and contracting promotes equity

    Procurement and contracting processes prioritise fairness, transparency and equity. By encouraging vendors and the supply chain to demonstrate explicitly their commitment to equity,  organisations are more likely to procure products which are designed with diverse communities in mind. This promotes economic inclusion and addresses systemic inequalities in supply chains.

    Equity in the use of data and design of algorithms

    Data collection and algorithmic design must be carried out ethically, with an emphasis on fairness and accountability. Data collection and algorithmic design must be carried out ethically, with an emphasis on fairness and accountability. Understanding how data reflects society along with limitations and bias in that data and taking action to avoid perpetuating biases are critical for preventing inequitable health outcomes.

    Equitable health and wellbeing outcomes for underserved communities

    Digital health addresses the unique needs of underserved communities. By focusing on equity, organisations reduce health disparities, ensuring all individuals, regardless of socio-economic status or geographic location, enjoy equal health outcomes as a result of digital health interventions.

  • We offer the charter to you as a set of guiding principles and in the spirit of shared learning.

    Each of us as individuals, teams and organisations can use the principles as a guide to achieve greater equity.

    There is no kite mark or inspection regime. This is not a top-down initiative. But we would like you to share your stories so we can build a movement together.

  • The Equity Charter is led by a small group of volunteer activists supported by a wider group of people and organisations who are committed to standing up for equity.

    We don’t have all the answers, but we do want to create a movement for greater equity by collaborating, experimenting, learning and sharing together. 

    We commit to:

    • Learning - about what works well and sharing it widely

    • Convening - bringing people together to learn 

    • Curating - good things that are making an impact

    • Lobbying - for equity wherever an opportunity arises

    • Building - a community of people who want to make a difference.

    We will bring our partners and experts together twice a year to share learning and invigorate the community and we will share learning via our newsletter and on our website.

    We undertake to iterate, review and update the charter regularly as we learn together.