The essay Africa, Racism and Colonialism: A legacy affecting global health analyzes the influence of Europe’s vision for Africa during the colonial era and its impact on medical practice. This vision, characterized by racism and the oppressive mechanisms of colonization, created a coercive system which permeated many aspects of society, including health. Throughout its pages, it provides an account of how systematic violation of the African population was perpetrated from a bioethical perspective, the health-related consequences of which continue to be endured up to the present day. The persistence of these post-colonial features in the global health system represents a crucial challenge in our own era. They call into question and transform the structures that have perpetuated profound inequalities in access to health care. This requires a paradigm shift and acknowledgment that health is a fundamental right belonging to every person, regardless of their origin or economic status.

The book was awarded the thirteenth Casa África Essay Prize (2023) and was published by Los Libros de La Catarata within the Casa África Essay Collection, with the support of the ANESVAD Foundation.

Taking part in the event will be the author, Rosauro Varo Cobos, along with Estela Camus-García, with a PhD in Political Science from the UAB, and Sani Ladan, an intercultural education trainer who specializes in foreign policy, security and international migration. Presented and moderated by:Javier Rosón, Casa Árabe’s coordinator in Cordoba, an expert in Islamic studies and editor of the journal Awraq.

Rosauro Varo Cobos.
Born in Cordoba in 1982, he is a pediatrician, researcher and aid worker. He has practiced in countries as wide-ranging as India, Peru, Costa Rica, South Africa, Malawi, the Central African Republic, Morocco and Mozambique, where he currently resides. A medical doctor with a PhD in Medicine from the University of Barcelona, he has also completed his Master’s degree in Literary Creation and in Comparative Studies of Literature, Art and Thought at the Universidad Pompeu Fabra. In his hometown, he co-founded the literary journal Café con Letras and the literary talks with the same name. He has contributed to various local and national media, including Granta, Mercurio, Revista de Letras and El País. He also runs the blog “Planetas Paralelos” in the digital magazine fronterad. He has had a storybook published with the title El embudo (The Funnel, 2014) and the novels Plagio (Plagiarism, 2018) and Lugar común (Common Place, 2022)

Estela Camus-García
PhD in Political Science from the UAB. She is a member of the migration research group at Loyola, the university where she is a full-time professor with experience in protection systems and health care for minors and young adult migrants arriving in the EU.

Sani Ladan
With a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a social educator, Sani Ladan is an intercultural trainer and specialist on foreign policy, security and international migration. He works as an international analyst and researcher specializing in issues related with the Middle East, and Central and West Africa. Sani is also a Pan-Africanist, anti-racist and activist who defends human rights. He is a member of the Elin Association (Ceuta) and the creator of the podcast “Africa in One Click.” He authored the book La luna está en Duala (The Moon is in Duala), published by the firm Plaza y Janés by Penguin, which was presented at Casa África in May 2023.

This activity is 85% co-financed by ERDF funds under the project COMPASS (1/MAC/4/7.2/0018) as part of the INTERREG VI D MAC 2021-2027 initiative.