Building a regional health agenda: A rights-based approach to health in South America

Abstract

Attention to health policies in Southern regional organisations reveals a new 'social turn' in the regional political economy of international cooperation. The aims of this paper are twofold. First, it aims to establish the extent to which the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) has adopted and sustained policy interventions committed to addressing social inequities and asymmetries in relation to health, as indicated by regional policy agendas, policy development processes and resourcing. Second, it seeks to understand how UNASUR is mobilising national and regional actors in support of such policies. Our analysis of documentary sources and interviews leads us to draw the following conclusions. First, we argue that the UNASUR regional framework has a committed social equity/rights focus in relation to access to health care and medicines, with a clear focus on reducing asymmetries between countries. Second, although UNASUR does not enforce national commitments on health and medicines, it nonetheless plays a role in expanding domestic policy horizons and policy capacities. In this respect, we find that UNASUR interventions lead to initiatives and actions aimed at implementing reforms, setting targets and defining goals nationally. Third, in global arena, UNASUR enhances the visibility and 'voices' of the member states.

Moving towards South-South International Health: debts and challenges in the regional health agenda

“…Building on existing commercial agreements (Mercosur and the Andean Community) it strengthened new areas of regional cooperation beyond trade. Unasur, by the nature of its constitution itself, took up health as a main political issue from the start, and therefore it was also incorporated at the level of norm promotion 9 . The Health Council 6 was one of the first to be created together with the Council of Defence and made great progress 10 , and the practice of member states at Unasur Health makes health one of the most dynamic areas of regional cooperation.…”

“…The Health Council 6 was one of the first to be created together with the Council of Defence and made great progress 10 , and the practice of member states at Unasur Health makes health one of the most dynamic areas of regional cooperation. This council made great advances in drug policies, training of human resources, and south-south cooperation 9 .…”

“…What's more, while traditional regional bodies or multilateral organisms have been following a strategy to address health, but focused on a disease by disease 11 (i.e HIV, malaria and tuberculosis), Unasur promotes a move towards horizontal cooperation and cross-cutting policies. In this context, and with the universalization of health systems as a horizon, Unasur policies are linked to access to health and not addressing disease-by-disease, moving away from the traditional and vertical model of donors and recipients 9 . This was translated, even when they were incipient, into initiatives to unpack the social determinants of health, the promotion of public health schools and the universal health systems 12 .…”

“…In this sense, another interesting issue to discuss is the regional policy process and its results in terms of health diplomacy. Through Unasur, it is possible to see the three levels in which this organism operates and in which the emergence, diffusion, and implementation of norms are promoted as well: national, regional and global level 9 . The regional/national channel is a two-way street.…”

Rural-Urban Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Among Middle-Age Men in China

“…Widening rural-urban health disparities have become a daunting global challenge, attracting growing attention in the public health literature. 1,2 Yet authors disagree about how and if rurality matters in health disparities. 3 Consequently, rural-urban health disparities are still poorly understood.…”