Photo: Tom Trevatt
Dr Annabel Sowemimo
Dr Annabel Sowemimo is a doctor, academic, activist and writer. She is an NHS Consultant in Sexual & Reproductive Health working in South London. She founded the charity the Reproductive Justice Initiative (RJI, formerly Decolonising Contraception), which aims to address health inequalities and racial disparities. RJI has been shortlisted for numerous awards, winning grassroots organisation of the year at the Sexual Health Awards in 2020 and a National LGBTQ Health Advisor award in 2022. In 2023, Annabel received an outstanding achievement award from the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH). Within her specialty, she is interested in tackling Gender Based Violence and improving access to healthcare for marginalised groups. She firmly believes that healthcare should be about empowering people with knowledge to make informed choices about their bodies.
Annabel is also a part-time PhD candidate and Harold Moody Scholar at King’s College London, with her research focusing on the experiences of Black women in Britain with fertility control methods. She has co-authored several academic publications for the likes of the Lancet and BMJ. Annabel has also worked as a freelance writer for numerous outlets including the Independent, Guardian and Novara Media, and she was a regular columnist for gal-dem. She jointly hosts The Sex Agenda podcast, and is frequently in demand for TV and radio. In 2023, she featured on the ITV documentary Our NHS with Dr Zoe Williams.
Annabel published her first book Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare with the Wellcome Collection in April 2023. It won the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing and a Breast Cancer Book of the Year award. It was also shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Non-Fiction, the British Academy Book Prize for Cultural Understanding and an Indie Champion’s Award.
Annabel spends her spare time campaigning on reproductive justice, against NHS cuts and improving healthcare for marginalised groups. She became a mum for the first time to a baby boy who arrived on her birthday in June 2024.
News featuring Annabel
Positive Health – Episode 3
In Episode 3 of Positive Health Co-hosts Susan Cole & Denis Onyango are joined by guests Dr Annabelle Sowemimo and Angelina Namiba to discuss HIV and Black communities. YouTube Shorts from Episode 3Advice to a woman newly diagnosed with HIVAdvice to Black women...
