The article analyzes initiatives aimed at creating a field of reflection and political intervention called the 'health of the black population,' which occurred between 1996 and 2004, that is, under the administration of Fernando Henrique Cardoso and part of Luis Inácio Lula da Silva´s administration. During this period, the process of discussing and enacting affirmative action policies in Brazil gained greater visibility, especially following the UN-sponsored Third World Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (Durban, South Africa, September 2001). The article describes the emergence of a proposal of compensatory policy within the Brazilian public health system. It then addresses the contemporary debate on race and health, especially the U.S. biomedical literature, and explores how this discussion has been appropriated by agencies and agents concerned with drawing up a 'racial policy' for the public health sector in Brazil.
racism; race; public health in Brazil; affirmative action policies; Durban conference; black movement