Tatiana Andia, researcher, professor and renowned health expert, passes away

Recognized for her in-depth analyses of the health sector, Andia questioned and addressed various discussions about health in Colombia, dignified death and the dignity of life during her final days. At 46 years old, the researcher passed away in her home in Bogotá, surrounded by her loved ones, just as she wanted.

Andia has devoted much of her work to the political economy of development, particularly inequalities in the health system. She has served as an advisor to the Ministry of Health on pharmaceutical policy in Colombia, as well as a consultant to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

At the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Universidad de los Andes, she contributed to the creation of the option and the master's degree in Sociology. She was also linked to the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies on Development (Cider) as director of academic programs and professor between 2006 and 2010.

She coordinated the Salud Visible project, created together with students, to make visible the fundamental elements and events of the Colombian health system, with a view to informing the public and developing recommendations for public policies. She was also an economist and historian from the Universidad de los Andes, with a master's degree in Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a doctorate in Sociology from Brown University.

Born in Bogotá in 1979, her life was marked from an early age by a deep interest in social and political issues, influenced by her reflective and community-oriented family environment. Her father, Óscar Andia, a family doctor, and her mother, Marina Rey, created a home where reflection and analysis were an integral part of everyday life, which shaped her intellectual curiosity and her vocation for research.

In his last column, published in the newspaper El Espectador, Andia said goodbye, pointing out that he did so with dignity, despite the myths about death and the difficulty, which, in his words, was dying. “The party is over, precisely because it stopped being a party and became an ordeal. And I don’t have to show anyone how much I suffer. It is not necessary for people to see that, even in my decline, I still have the ball in my hand. Simply, the party is over. They turned off my music. I am retiring with dignity,” he wrote.

Various voices from the health and academic sectors sent their messages of condolence. Among them was the Universidad de los Andes, which extended its most heartfelt condolences to her husband, Andrés Molano, her father, Óscar Andia, as well as to the rest of her family and close friends.

The Faculty of Social Sciences of @Uniandes is in mourning, as Professor Tatiana Andia passed away, an exceptional woman who left her mark on the academy with her tireless work in sociology. Solidarity and affection to all her loved ones and (1/6) pic.twitter.com/61w884VyWD

— Uniandes Faculty of Social Sciences (@facisouniandes) February 26, 2025

Other voices of renowned researchers and actors in the health sector such as the former Minister of Health, Alejandro Gaviria, and the professors and researchers Ramón Abel Castaño, Julián Fernández-Niño and Ana María Urueña, as well as officials who worked with her or knew her such as the Secretary of Health of Bogotá, Gerson Bermont, also lamented her death.

“Tatiana Andia contributed to a rigorous discussion about the health system and, at the same time, she opened up her life as a patient to us. We will miss her intelligence, tenacity, and strength. With her departure, she leaves us a message of life and the task of continuing to pursue the dignity of life,” said Bermont.

Environment and Health Journalist