Tabassum Wyne
For advocating for better treatment of Muslims in health care
As the founder and executive director of the Muslim Advisory Council of Canada (MACC), Tabassum Wyne is well-acquainted with inequities in education, employment policies and especially health care. Through surveys, the MACC has collected data on how Islamophobia in health care impacts practitioners, patients and caregivers.
Muslim women and girls seeking health care can be particularly affected. When Wyne gave birth six years ago, she experienced Islamophobia. This led her to become involved in the Family Advisory Council at McMaster Childrens Hospital, where she advocates for policy improvements to address these inequities. Wyne and MACC have also developed an Islamophobia in Healthcare training module that will launch in 2023.
In December 2021, when the Canadian Medical Association Journal published an article calling the hijab an instrument of oppression, Wyne met with CMAJs editor-in-chief to explain their concerns and advocate for its retraction. The journal took down the article and Wyne now serves as an advisor to the editor-in-chief.
If more health care organizations collected race-based data, it would create accountability when patients and staff report issues of racism. There is a gap in Canadian society in understanding Islamophobia in health care, says Wyne. And we hope to be the organization that fills that gap. Zeahaa Rehman
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