Health Policy in Latin America

Abstract

Abstract This chapter maps the scientific production on health policies and systems in Latin America over the past forty years and highlights the main findings on their reforms and the characteristics that shape the various organizational models. Using bibliometric and scientometric techniques, we find a progressive increase in scientific production over the period, a predominance of authorship among Latin Americans themselves, and a lesser prominence of comparative studies in favour of case studies. In contrast, we identify two waves of reform. The first, in the late twentieth century, reinforced co-participation, privatization, decentralization, and segmentation of publics. The second, which began in the 2000s, prioritizes the universalization and extension of primary care, but—despite advances in expanding financing, coverage, and benefits—has not overcome the segmentation of systems and the low integration between levels of health care that still characterize most countries in the region.