Latin America and the right to health

For a long time I have participated in a group at ECLAC in which politicians discuss welfare states in Latin America, virtually. On this occasion, a face-to-face meeting could be held in the Dominican Republic. One of the organizers is Carlos Ominami, the former Chilean senator and former minister of the concertation. Carlos was in charge of raising the question about the agenda and coordination mechanisms that Latin America requires to face the crises of the present. It starts from the fact that current cooperation schemes do not work in the new circumstances. Also, that it is not possible for the countries of the region to be completely independent from the influence of China and the United States. However, it is possible to establish common agreements and goals.

There is a set of issues in which the countries of the region can count on the necessary instruments to influence the global agenda. One of them is to reform the architecture of international financial systems, so that they are capable of offering conditions for the economic stability of countries, but also to promote their growth and reduce inequality. In general, they serve the former. For example, recent agreements on tax matters, to prevent large companies from resorting to tax havens, were positive, but they served more the nations where the corporations are located, than where the consumption is carried out, such as Latin America. It is also possible to promote at a global level progressive agendas that have advanced in our countries, such as gender equality, the rights of sexual diversity and the conservation of the culture and heritage of our native peoples.

The most obvious issue for coordination is health. The current pandemic shows that developed countries are not going to share their technological capabilities in an emergency situation, except in highly integrated schemes, such as the European Union. That is, regional support schemes are required, through which countries like ours build and share capacities to face public health challenges, such as new pandemics or those arising, for example, from the phenomena of climate change, or those that exist now due to the issue of obesity. This should not limit the right to health, but rather direct the purposes of technological innovation, to seek to increase the competitiveness of our nations and solutions to common challenges to generate development.

It is clear that the more developed nations are not facilitating the transfer of technology to our countries, at least not in a way that privileges the solution of public problems over exclusively business ones. Integration in Latin America can and should serve to build paths for innovation in technology, it is not utopian, in our nations there are already institutions and companies with that capacity, which together can be strengthened. Together we can move forward to modernize our productive matrix and generate investment with a higher technological content, quality jobs, give a better cause to the phenomena of informality and increase our food sovereignty, with a focus on caring for the environment.

At the forum, it was commented that the current schemes for consultation and dialogue are exhausted, that others are required to provide solutions to the new challenges of governance and crisis in the area, which are not few. The lack of interest of the powers in the area is clear, even in critical cases, such as Haiti, which makes it urgent to build effective regional aid mechanisms. By the way, it is this strategy, that of building new cooperative institutions in the region, precisely the one that the Mexican government is promoting in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac). Mexico is clear about its role as the region’s leader and has a plan to carry it out by implementing mechanisms to guarantee the right to health and a healthy environment.

Twitter: @vidallerenas