“Without confronting racism, health equity cannot be achieved” – interview with Fernanda Lopes

Abstract

With a career marked by pioneering contributions to the field of Public Health, Fernanda Lopes—an epidemiologist, manager, and Black activist—offers an interview that traverses her experiences in addressing institutional racism and formulating public policies, with an emphasis on collective struggles for equity and reproductive justice. Among her extensive body of work are the first article published in an epidemiological bulletin to highlight AIDS and racial inequities affecting the Black population in 2001 and the first Brazilian doctoral dissertation on Black women and AIDS, in 2004. Bridging knowledge production and activism, her work spans public institutions, social movements, and international organizations. The interview is part of the project “Memories of Black Women in Movement for the Right to Health,” which seeks to document life trajectories and contribute to the visibility of Black women’s leadership in the health sector in Brazil.