REFORMAS (AJUSTES) EN LOS SISTEMAS DE SALUD: UNA PROPUESTA DE ANÁLISIS A PARTIR DE LOS ESTUDIOS SOBRE PRIVATIZACIONES Y LA DIMENSIÓN POLÍTICA DE LAS REFORMAS

Abstract

This work focuses on the scope and potential of the descriptions, explanations, and reflections offered by health systems studies aimed at understanding contemporary processes of change in Latin America and the Caribbean. We consider that the available studies, especially those based on the categories of reform or adjustment, have limitations, as they tend to give little relevance to privatization movements and the reproduction and intensification of inequalities. Typologies of health reforms and systems in developed countries, when uncritically applied to the analysis of health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean, often overlook analytical alternatives focused on privatization and those centered on the political processes of health policies and systems. In conclusion, and based on the review conducted, we have developed a series of questions that we consider appropriate to stimulate more realistic reflections on the development and implementation of policies, adjustments, and reforms of the region's health systems, considering approaches to and deviations from legal norms related to the universalization of the right to health in our societies.