Recorded presentation

Nuria Homedes, MD, DrPH, University of Texas Houston Health Science Center, El Paso Regional Campus, 632 Skydale, El Paso, TX 79912, 915 747 8508, nhomedes@utep.edu and Antonio Ugalde, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of Texas-Austin, 1802 Westridge, Austin, TX 78704.

According to the Constitution of most Latin American countries health is a universal right. However, historically Latin American governments have not fulfilled their obligations and large segments of the population continue without access or with limited access to health care.

Government documents and reports written by international and bilateral health agencies during the 1970s and 1980s signaled the inequities in the system as one of the major problems needing immediate attention. Several countries developed strategies to increase the availability of health professionals in rural areas and poor neighborhoods and relied on the public sector for the provision of services.

The economic crisis on the 1980s led to further deterioration of the health sector, and the vast majority of countries borrowed from multilateral and bilateral agencies to stay a float. International donors, led by the World Bank, imposed conditions for lending that included: the privatization of service provision, restricting universal access to a very limited package of interventions, and increases in copayments.

This paper discusses how the mandates of international agencies have forced countries to overlook their constitutional mandates and presents the evolution of access to services for selected countries of the region and the ethical implications of such international policies. The authors attempt to explain the reasons and factors that have contributed to this situation, and possible solutions to make international agencies more responsive to ethical rather than economic priorities.

Learning Objectives:

1.Learn about major components of health sector reform in Latin America
• Discuss the impact of such policies in equity and justice
• Discuss opportunities for change

Keywords: Health Reform, Equal Access

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation