Puerto Rico's healthcare system, particularly in marginalized regions, faces significant challenges due to structural racism and colonial history, leading to unequal resource distribution and healthcare disparities. Issues like lack of equipped obstetrics clinics, limited transportation, and hospital closures exacerbate access barriers, while the migration of healthcare professionals worsens the crisis. The Justice in Action Health Collective (JAHC) adopts an intersectional and decolonial framework, addressing health disparities by considering how race, gender, class, and other social identities intersect with systems of oppression. This approach helps develop sustainable, culturally relevant solutions aimed at driving structural change through collaboration with community partners, healthcare providers, and policymakers.


The author will present JAHC progress in addressing structural racism and colonialism through a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach, drawing on expertise in public health, social policy, community-based research, and lived experience.


JAHC implements short-, medium-, and long-term strategies that address the root causes of racialization and health disparities in maternal and infant health services; committed to long-term systemic change, supported by collaborative partnerships and a deep understanding of inequality's root causes.